Upon the Rising Storm
by Walker-98
Summary: Earth has fallen to the alien Souls, and Humanity is at a crossroad. Do they attempt to make peace with the invaders or do they fight back? A growing battle looms as Wanda and her friends will find the path to peace dangerous. Meanwhile, Sunny starts a journey unlike any before. For the Souls' oldest enemy have returned, and in the end neither race will ever be the same.
1. Chapter 1 - Prologue

_**Hello all! Well I've finally made it to the last part of my planned trilogy. Thanks for all who have read my previous Host stories. Like before, even if you haven't read my other stories, you should be able to follow along well enough. But please read On the Precipice and Pathways in Darkness if you have the time.**_

_**A note on the characters: Due to limitations of story notes I only have Kyle and Sunny as main characters. Yes, Kyle and Sunny will have a major arc but everyone to one extent or another will be in the story.**_

_**The Host belongs Stephanie Myers. As always - please read, enjoy, and review.**_

_**-Walker**_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 1 - Prologue<strong>_

Marc Walters jumped from the last set of stairs and hit the ground running. He pushed forward with his legs, taking rapid strides as he ran down the tunnel. His shoes smacking hard into the concert floor as he moved. All his strength poured into moving as fast as possible down the passageway. The urgency of his mission driving him forward as fast as he could go.

From behind him he heard the hurried footsteps of Seeker Bright Moon on Fallen Snow. She had not leapt from the stairs to the ground like Marc. Her strides not as large as Marc's and she had a greater distance to catch up. But she was pushing herself hard to reach Marc. Her breath came out in tight gasps echoing off the bare gray cement walls of the tunnel as she ran after him.

Coming to a bend in the corridor Marc barely slowed down as he shifted his weight and changed his body into the new direction. Bright Moon had closed the distance to him and managed to pant out, "Marc, wait," before Marc broke out into a dead run.

One more turn and his destination lay before him. A thick steel door, painted a dull red color, lay at the end of the tunnel. Now Marc's speed became a detriment as he needed to halt right away. Not from crashing into the steel door, but the two Seekers guarding the door.

Marc's rapid pace had both Seekers reacting in alarm. They brought up their weapons and trained them on the running Human. Marc slid to a stop before them and raised his hands high above his head. "Whoa…Whoa," he gulped out as he saw the Seekers take aim with their weapons, "I'm on your side. Remember I'm on your side!"

At Marc's plea both Seekers hesitated and Marc managed a friendly smile at the two well-armed aliens. The Seekers didn't return his smile, nor did they lower their weapons. For a few moments, both Human and Souls stared each other down. Then with the sound of more echoing footfalls, all three turned to see Bright Moon run into view.

Coming to a stop by Marc, she admonished him while still trying to catch her breath. "Marc, I told...you to...wait for me!"

Marc let out a long sigh and glanced between Bright Moon and the other two Seekers. Bright Moon was dressed in the ordinary black uniform of the Seekers Marc was used to seeing. In fact, he hardly ever saw her wear anything else. Her honey blond hair which was usually tied into a neat ponytail hung down to her shoulders in a messy display. He considered this a much more attractive appearance for her, but he decided this wasn't the best of times to bring it up. The other two male Seekers guarding the door were not dressed like Bright Moon. They instead were wearing dark gray combat armor and still held their large machine guns pointed at Marc's head.

Bright Moon turned from Marc and addressed her fellow Seekers in a calm and gentle voice. "Please, we need to see Seeker Sage of Tides. It is very urgent."

The two Seekers exchange a brief look of irritation. Lowering his weapon one turned to Bright Moon while the other continued to cover Marc. Seekers normally were always calm and pleasant to each other, like all Souls. But not now, the Seeker addressing Bright Moon could almost be called angry. "Traitor, what do you and the savage want?"

Bright Moon flinched at the label and Marc felt himself stiffen at the Seeker's comment. He would like to ask the Seeker to rethink his statement, preferably after Marc broke his nose. But with the gun still trained on him Marc had to force his anger down. Bright Moon didn't let any emotion show on her face or in her voice. She just repeated in the same peaceful voice, "Please, this is very important. We believe the army is falling into a trap. We need to speak with Sage of Tides."

Again the two Seekers exchange glances, still unconvinced. Feeling they didn't have much to lose Marc risked adding to the Seekers' irritation. "You think I'd risk you guys shooting me if wasn't something really damn important?"

"Seeker Sage of Tides is busy with the operation to eradicate the rebel humans. He doesn't have time for interruptions," replied the Seeker still aiming his gun at Marc.

With a shake of his head, Marc turned to Bright Moon and said with rising incredulity, "It's like talking to a wall." Before Bright Moon could answer, Marc turned back to the Seekers. "Now you listen to me," he said with a dangerous edge to his voice. "You lot dragged me out to the middle of nowhere to help you take down the Facility. Old Sage told me to think outside the box to help you assholes do your job because apparently having an original thought would give you guys an aneurism. Now I need to talk to him or a lot of your Seeker buddies are likely to end up dead. So either stand aside or shoot me!"

Even though the Seekers were armed and trained to deal with 'wild' Humans like Marc, they both took a step back, clearly intimidated from Marc's outburst. Bright Moon let out a resigned sigh, she was far more use to Marc and prepared to put up with his anger. Putting herself between Marc and the Seekers she attempted to calm the situation.

"Please," said Bright Moon beseechingly, "I will take full responsibility for the interruption." She shifted uncomfortably and added sadly, "I know you think I'm a traitor. But everything I did I thought was for the greater good. Please believe me when I say I never wanted to hurt anyone and our need to talk with Sage of Tides is real and very critical."

Whether it was Marc's outburst or Bright Moon's plea, the Seekers traded one more glance of consideration and then finally relented. The one guarding Marc slowly lowered his weapon and with a sigh the other stood to the side to let them pass. Working the release to the large steel door, Marc slowly opened the way into the interior of the bunker.

"Marc, don't do anything like that again," said Bright Moon as they passed through the doorway. "They could have…hurt you." The concern for him was prevalent on her face.

Still annoyed with their delay by the Seeker guards, Marc had to bite back his stewing anger from his response. "I know, it's just I didn't like them calling you a traitor…really ticked me off."

As they entered the control center, Bright Moon had a very strange expression on her face. An odd mixture of confusion and irritation from Marc's response. With a shake of her head she said, "I don't know if I'm pleased with your attempts to protect me or annoyed."

Marc's reply died in his throat as he took in the Seekers' command and control center. The room was filled with Seekers working away at control workstations. Nearly two-thirds of the room was filled with men and woman seated in front of high-tech monitors, overseeing the operations of the assembled army of Seekers. But it was the front of the room that drew Marc's attention and caused him to come to an abrupt stop. There was a rather large alien working away on an elaborate piece of equipment vaguely shaped like an elongated glass table.

Actually the room was full of alien Souls and Marc was the only human here. But he was used to dealing with the parasitic aliens when they were in Human hosts. The multi-legged creature working at the front of the room was unlike anything Marc had ever seen. Larger than a man, it was comprised of three connected short segments with a dozen spindly limbs. Most of its legs or arms were busy with tasks as it nimbly moved around the table-like device.

"It's a Spider," explained Bright Moon as she saw Marc staring wide-eyed at the alien.

Marc blinked as he took in the busy creature. It did indeed look like a giant spider, if not for the extra limbs. "You mean that alien race Wanda was telling us about? What's it doing here?"

"The Spiders helped during…" Bright Moon began and then looked down. She half mumbled the rest of her answer. "The invasion of Earth. They captured the first humans and assisted the Seekers during battles with your race."

"I see," said Marc with some difficulty. "So you Seekers dragged this guy out of cold storage or something?"

"I'm not sure," answered Bright Moon as she looked back up at Marc. "I know a few Spiders remained behind after the invasion was complete to assist with starship maintenance. This may be one of them."

Marc pushed off his wariness of the alien Spider and headed for the front of the control center, Bright Moon right behind him. He wasn't surprised to see Seeker Sage of Tides overseeing the Spider-thing's work. The alien Soul's host was a tall stern-faced man with neatly cropped head of hair shaded a sandy gray color. His expression was almost impossible to read as he took in Marc's and Bright Moon's arrival.

"Seeker Bright Moon, Mister Walters, what are you doing here?" His voice firm and even as he spoke.

Bright Moon came to a stop before her superior. Drawing herself up and squaring her shoulders, she said crisply, "Seeker Sage of Tides, I apologize for our intrusion. But we have important news from Wanderer. As you know, she has been working with Mia…"

"The Vultures," interrupted Marc. "They're here. Working with the humans at the Facility. Right now."

Bright Moon shot Marc a frustrated glare but nodded in agreement when Sage turned to Bright Moon for confirmation of Marc's announcement. The elder Seeker was silent for a few long seconds and asked in a quiet voice, "Are you sure?"

"Wanderer felt confident of her information," replied Bright Moon. She faltered for a moment and then added carefully, "She would have communicated this information directly but the Seekers in Chicago…were unconvinced and uncooperative."

Marc snorted and quipped, "Big surprise."

Sage of Tides looked sharply at Marc and the nodded to himself. "You believe Wanderer, why should I believe you?" he asked as he gazed steadily at Marc.

As in the past Marc found himself growing unsure of himself when facing Sage of Tides. The Seeker had a very commanding appearance, as if everything near him would spontaneously assemble in order by his mere presence. And Marc had learned the Seeker's natural state of authority had little do to with his host body. He stammered for a moment and then collected himself.

"Look," said Marc with his best effort at calm certainty, "you wanted me to be a fail-safe for this mission. To see what you might miss, so I am doing that." Marc began to count off on his fingers as he spoke. "Look at what we've seen – The Human rebels you're going up against have successfully launched a plague against your people that defied all your medicines. Medicines that are far more advanced than any technology Humans developed. Then they turned Kane Adams immune to being controlled by an inserted Soul. Again something your Healers have never seen before in any species you've…conquered." Marc bit back his resentment in his last word. He then had to take a deep breath for his next sentence. "And then Mia…everything we've learned from her."

"You've made these points before," said Sage of Tides, his face and voice decisively neutral.

"My point is these people of the 'Facility' have had help. A lot of your technology was acquired from these Vultures." Marc made a gesture to the Spider still working on the apparatus before them, "Yes the Spiders improved that technology, but it's still based on the Vultures' original work. Who better to show how to defeat or repurpose those tools than the people who originally made them?"

Marc pressed his case as a thought came to him. "Think about it, they were a space-faring race. That's how you got your first spaceships. Some of them could have escaped your take over."

"That was a very long time ago," replied Sage as he considered Marc's argument.

Without skipping a beat Marc shot back, "It's a big galaxy, lots of places to hide. They could have been waiting for the right time to strike back."

"There is logic to the Human's statement," came a soft metallic voice from beside Marc. He jerked in surprise when he realized the voice had come from the Spider. Even as the creature continued to work one of its large dark eyes examined Marc with a glassy stare.

"Umm…thanks," said Marc trying not to shudder from the alien's unnerving stare.

"Yes, thank you, Enquirer of Facts," replied Seeker Sage.

The same smooth mechanical voice replied, "An observation. Your thanks are unnecessary." Marc realized the sound wasn't coming from the Spider but from a small device on one of its limbs. Some sort of translator device he decided. He didn't see a mouth on Enquirer of Facts and didn't feel like getting closer to the creature to find one.

Drawing Marc's attention back to his original purpose Sage of Tides asked, "If you are correct, why would the Vultures help your people?" For the first time, the Seeker's cool and imposing appearance faltered. "Their race was…cruel and…unkind to every species they encountered."

"With respects Seeker Sage of Tides," began Bright Moon as Sage turned from Marc to gaze steadily at the blond-haired Seeker. "They would have a common enemy to unite them with the Humans…us."

Marc regarded the two Seekers and added mildly, "If there is anyone in the universe itching for some payback and could possibly be in a position to get some, it would be the Humans and Vultures."

Seeker Sage of Tides was silent as he deliberated. Both Marc and Bright Moon exchanged uneasy glances as they waited. After almost a minute, he turned and addressed one of the Seekers working at a nearby workstation. "Seeker Harmony, please get a status of all ground commanders. I want a full assessment of our situation. I want them to check and then recheck their positions and their readiness. Report on any anomalies, no matter how small."

"Yes, Seeker," replied the young woman at her station.

Sage turned back and addressed Marc. His voice was still confident, but there was an undertone of warning in his words. "And how do you feel about the possibility of the Vultures' involvement? Do you look forward to some 'payback'?"

Instead of directly answering the Seeker, Marc turned to Bright Moon. While looking at the young woman, Marc replied to Sage's question, "You know how I feel." A sad smile formed on Bright Moon's face at Marc's answer.

Interrupting all three of them an older man in the second row of Seekers spoke up urgently. "Seeker Branston at position Gamma reports intercepting a narrow beam transmission. It would appear to be meant for the rebel Humans."

"Source?" asked Sage of Tides at once.

The Seeker's face stared blankly at his screen. His gray eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "This doesn't make sense…the source of the transmission is coming from near the orbit of the moon."

"Frequency analysis," commanded Sage of Tides.

Another Seeker spoke up in response to Sage's question, but he also was no less confused by the information he was receiving. "The message was sent from one of our starships. The message was unencrypted text."

Marc beat Sage of Tides to the obvious question, "What does it say?"

The Seeker hesitated to answer Marc's command but did so when the older Seeker nodded his head in agreement with the Human's question.

"It says - 'Kingdom Come.'"

Now all the Seekers sitting at the various workstations stopped their activities and stared at each other with a mix of different emotions. Some were puzzled, a few more annoyed, and still other had a flicker of fear cross their faces. Unfazed, Sage of Tides walked down the center row. His orders were still clear and concise. "I want the ship sending that transmission contacted. It is to stop and check for any anomalies. I want satellite reconnaissance to check ever square centimeter of the entire area…"

Sage was cut off as several alarms signaled on different Seeker workstations at the same time. At once there was a rising buzz of activity from all the Seekers working in the control center. Orders and then counter-orders were quickly being relayed between the control staff at the bunker and other Seeker locations.

"What is happening?" demanded Sage of Tides.

Several seconds passed while the murmur of voices only grew and no one responded. Sage cleared his throat and was about to speak when the older Seeker who had first reported the strange transmission replied, "I'm getting damage reports coming from multiple cities around the globe."

"What!?" cried Sage of Tides.

"I don't know…for sure," replied the Seeker with growing quiver in his voice. "The messages are on emergency channels. I can't get a response…too much cross traffic."

With a rising horror on his face Marc said in a shaky whisper to Bright Moon,"Oh no." Bright Moon was also looked stricken as the reports of damage worldwide only increased.

One of the Seekers, a middle-aged woman with rusty red hair yanked her headset off and pushed away from her console in fright. "It can't be…It can't be…" she cried out in pure panic. Her voice carried a strong English accent to her words. Nearby Seekers came to her aid, trying to comfort her even as the outside chaos threatened to overwhelm them. She turned to her fellow Seekers and said in a horrified whisper, "The report said London is burning…"

Bright Moon came to Marc and he pulled her to him. Her eyes were wide with fear as he held her. "We were too late," she said in a frightened whisper.

Marc never had a chance to respond when within the time of a single heartbeat the entire bunker shook with immense force. It was as if the ground above was hit by a fist of an angry giant. The floor heaved upwards suddenly only to rush downwards with even greater force. Everything in the room flew about, men, women, tables, chairs, computers, tools, and even the Spider with all its legs flailing chaotically as it tumbled about. All of it to smash down to the floor when the ground stopped reverberating. The lights in the room flickered defiantly for a moment and then were extinguished.

The noise of crashing bodies and equipment was deafening, but above that noise rose an even louder sound. It was as if a thousand trains were colliding with a thousand more. It was a tearing, a ripping, cracking, the sounds of tons upon tons of reinforced cement and iron bent and twisted from forces far beyond what they were designed to withstand.

In the complete darkness Marc tried to find Bright Moon, the alien Seeker who had against all possibilities become his true love. He tried to call her name, but it was drowned out by the continuing rumbling as the bunker began to collapse in on itself. Then there was one terrible moment of silence as the rumbling stopped. Marc called for Bright Moon again, but there was no response. And then the walls of the room buckled with a single sound of ruin and entombed them all.


	2. Chapter 2 - Tested

_**Chapter 2 - Tested**_

_**Two Weeks Earlier...**_

Ian O'Shea closed his eyes tight. There was nothing but inky blackness behind his eyelids. He didn't really need to close his eyes, the tunnel he stood in was already in absolute darkness. But the action helped bring him focus. He needed to concentrate on his next task, it wasn't going to be easy.

Stepping forward, Ian slowly began moving down the passageway. The floor of the corridor was cracked and uneven so his footing was less than firm. He recalled what Dell and Jason had taught him. Walk on the balls of your feet, keep your center of gravity low, and most important – listen. The sounds which echoed through these tunnels could be used as guidance, communication, and warn of coming danger.

Under the city of Chicago lay miles of drainage systems, old freight tunnels, reservoirs, and even old cable-car tunnels from more than a century ago. All of these formed a massive maze Ian was slowly moving through. This underground labyrinth had provided protection and refuge for a small band of Humans. These underground dwellers hid themselves from a much larger population of aliens on the surface. Aliens that looked and sounded just like humans, at least their bodies did.

_'120 paces till I reach the end of the tunnel,'_ thought Ian as he slowly picked up his pace. He was careful each time he stepped forward. Each footstep placed with meticulous timing, he needed to be silent as he moved.

Living in these tunnels had taught the Humans much, how to move and navigate without any light. To pass silently and stealthily as the aliens who called themselves Souls sometimes sent search teams down into these tunnels. Known as Seekers, there were a scourge to the dwindling population of free Humans still on Earth.

Nearing his one-hundred and tenth step Ian could tell he was coming to the end of the corridor. Letting his hearing do the seeing, he heard the faint echo of his movement from the wall in front of him. He could either turn left or right. Ian focused on remembering what lay in both directions. To the left he remembered the tunnel went on straight for almost a mile. A good way to get some distance, but there were few exits that way and he could easily get himself cornered with no way out. If he went right, the shaft would break up into multiple paths. Much easier to hide.

Turning to the right Ian almost started walking again when he heard it. A faint clip-clop sound of someone moving less than stealthily in the tunnel. Someone coming from the right. Ian suppressed a groan and turned to the left. The tunnel's surface was smoother here and he made better progress. But he only went about thirty feet in his estimation before he stopped. Listening he heard the soft footsteps behind him. They were the sound of someone who wasn't certain if they were going the right way. Indecisive, starting and then stopping, slowly seeking him.

Ian opened his eyes to the ocean of darkness around him. Buried here deep in the Earth there wasn't even a glimmer of light. Therefore, Ian's light starved eyes could already make out a faint glow coming from behind him. His pursuer had a flashlight.

Usually he would consider someone with a light source to have the upper hand in this inky blackness. However, Ian had learned much since coming to Chicago. Yes, light could find you out in these tunnels. But every light cast a shadow and there were many places to hide in the shadows.

Picking up his pace, Ian sacrificed some of his stealth for speed. If his hunter did follow him down this tunnel, he would need some distance to put his plan into action. Ian recalled the Arizona caves he had lived in for the last two years. There, like these tunnels, he had gotten used to moving through them until he knew every contour of the stone floor. That even in utter blackness he could move without stumbling. Ian had worked hard to learn these man-made caves, but he still had a lot of ground to cover. Putting his foot down, Ian realized he'd stepped into a divot. Sometime in the past a chunk of cement had broken free from the ground and left a sizeable hole. A hole which caused Ian to misstep and then clumsily, and loudly, hit the ground.

"Oh, damn it," breathed out Ian in anger. He had been trying to move too fast while his body's center of gravity was too high. Righting himself and then yanking his foot out of the hole, Ian risked a look back down the dark passageway. The soft glow of a flashlight was still visible, but Ian didn't hear the quiet padding of footsteps. His stalker had stopped moving and was now listening. Ian stood absolutely still, daring to not breath, and waited.

All at once the glimmer of the light behind him began to move. Now a new sound reached Ian's ears, the sound of someone running. The smack-smack of feet landing on hard cement of the tunnel. Cursing himself again for making such a stupid mistake, Ian began to move again. He could try sprinting himself, but he would be running blind and after his last mistake he didn't want to screw up again.

As he moved, Ian pressed his right hand on the wall of the tunnel. The sounds echoing from his pursuer was growing louder with each second. Ian knew he had to be close now, just a little more. Twenty steps went by, then thirty. The light behind Ian had grown strong enough to turn the black surrounding Ian to a deep gray. He only seconds now before his relentless tracker closed the distance and caught sight of him.

Ian's hand on the old stone wall skittered along its surface as he moved, just the cold hard cement against his fingers. And then he felt nothing but cold, dry air. He had reached the side tunnel. Ian wanted to shout for joy, but he kept his mouth shut. He was out of time. Sliding to the right, Ian pushed himself into the cramped space.

Calling the passage he found himself in a tunnel was being very generous. It was in reality a narrow crack barely wider than Ian. Over the years, this section of the drainage system had deteriorated to the point a large crack had formed. A crack that had been carefully widened by the Humans rebels to the point it could be used as a hiding spot. Ian pressed himself as far back into the crack as his tall body would allow. It certainly wasn't easy for him as the sides of the crack were rough and uneven. A particularly sharp edge poked Ian painfully in the back.

The footsteps had slowed and Ian could make out the sounds of someone panting. The light of the flashlight was now intensely bright to Ian's oversensitive eyes. He began to slowly lower himself down, not easy to do in this constricted hole. He could feel his leg muscles already begin to cramp as he forced his body down. Ian knew he was in a pretty awkward position and if he was caught he would have no chance of escape. But his only real choice was to successfully hide here and then turn the tables on his would-be-tracker when they had passed him.

The light of the flashlight beamed directly into the crack. Ian felt every inch of his body freeze as solid as ice. He kept his head lowered, letting his dark hood cover his face completely. Ian dared not even breathe. The light panned through the crack and shadows splayed in all direction as the light bounced off the uneven sides. With his dark clothing and hunched close to the floor, Ian was lost in those shadows.

Turning from his unseen prey the figure carrying the light turned in a slow circle in the middle of the tunnel. The light filled the outside corridor, but Ian remain hidden. Slow seconds trickled by and finally the person returned to his original slow walk down the passageway. Once the light began to recede, Ian finally began to breath.

Gradually and more than a little stiffly Ian began to pull himself up in the tight space of the fissure in the wall of the larger drainage tunnel. Silently he pulled himself from the crack. In front of him, the silhouette of his pursuer was illuminated by his own flashlight. Ian smiled to himself, down here light was a double edge sword. As much as it could help in dark, the light betrayed its user. Unseen, Ian crept closer to his adversary.

Still uncertain of his quarry, the man in front of Ian was slowly panning his flashlight back and forth as he studied the path before him. Now Ian was right behind the squat man. Looming over him, Ian jabbed out with his index finger into the man's back like a mock gun. At his finger's contact, the man went stiff in alarm.

"Bang, you're dead," said Ian with dark humor in his voice.

The short man breathed quickly and the let out a dry laugh. "I knew you were behind me."

"Bull," replied Ian with some heat. "Jason, I've got you. Plain and simple."

With a slow sigh, the stout Chicago rebel turned to face Ian in the tunnel. Jason folded his thick arms in front of him and said after a moment of contemplation, "I suppose so. You were hiding in the crack back there, weren't you?"

"Yeah," said Ian as he rolled his shoulders to work a kink out of his back. "Wasn't easy. Thought I was going to get stuck in there."

Retracing their steps Jason probed the crack with his flashlight. He nodded slowly to himself, "Not bad, I didn't think you could get yourself in there." He chided himself, "Didn't look close enough, and I should have." Jason turned back to Ian and added quietly, "If I were a Seeker, I would have. They are very thorough."

"Yeah, I know," replied Ian grimly. He had a good deal of experience with Seekers. They could be relentless and as Jason had said, very thorough when they hunted their prey.

"Just saying," said Jason as he spread his arms and made a small shrug. "Still not bad, you've been learning a lot in the last two months."

As they began to walk down the tunnel Ian was silent as he considered his latest 'test'. He'd spent nearly every day down here for hours at a time with either Jason, Dell or one of the other Humans from Chicago for the last week. Sometimes it was lessons on how to move and navigate. Other times, like now, he was tested as one or more people hunted him in the dark. Even after all his practice Ian was pretty sure he had only scraped the surface of what the others knew about this underground maze.

Turning down a new passageway, Ian asked Jason, "Same time tomorrow then?"

"No," replied Jason after a moment hesitation. "Bright Moon on Fallen Snow says the Seekers will be running another expedition down here tomorrow." With a slow smirk forming on his face Jason added, "We don't want to be here when that happens."

"Hell no," replied Ian with a grin of his own. Curious he asked, "How many are they sending this time?"

"Marc said she believed it would be about half the Seekers in the city, about fifty in all," said Jason with a shake of his head.

"Still can't believe she's on our side?" queried Ian.

Jason was silent as they walked along. Ian briefly thought about the blond-haired blue-eyed Seeker who had at one time hunted Jason and the other rebels. Now she was allied with the very same Humans. There were very few Souls who would be willing to go against their own people and try to save the remaining Humans. For a Seeker, called to protect Souls and eliminate the Human threat, it was nearly unthinkable.

But in the last few months the city of Chicago had been the location of some truly remarkable events. An outbreak of a virulent plague had infected thousands of Souls in Chicago. The disease resisted every attempt by the Souls' Healers to provide treatment. The Humans that hid in the city also become ill. With both sides desperate, they did the unthinkable. Humans formed a truce with the Souls and worked together to cure the sickness. Seeker Bright Moon had reevaluated her beliefs about Humans, in no small part because of her growing relationship with the Human's rebel leader, Marc Walters.

"Ummm," replied Jason at last, "Trusting a parasite isn't the easiest thing to do. Trusting one of their Seekers is damn near impossible." Jason looked up quickly after he realized what he called the Souls. With a weak smile he added, "Sorry, no offense to Wanda."

At one time Ian would have grown swiftly angry if someone insulted his Wanda. But Wanda was quick to point out to Ian that Humans had every reason to fear and distrust her people. She was a Soul, a small silver centipede-like creature which lived in and controlled the body of young blond-haired woman. Her people had systematically conquered Earth and driven humanity to near extinction. Wanda never resented anyone who didn't like her. She was kind and gentle to all, always forgiving, and with a few exceptions entirely selfless. It was Wanda's pure generosity, her kindness, which led Ian to fall in love with her.

"It's alright," said Ian with a shrug. "You guys have made Wanda and I feel right at home here. Almost everyone has been descent to Wanda." Dark memories intruded into Ian's mind when he first met Wanda. Of his hands around her neck, squeezing tight as she desperately struggled to breath. He pushed the old, unwanted, memories away with a deep sigh. "Trust me, your guys' welcome for Wanda was far more pleasant than ours out in the desert."

Leading Ian down a small side tunnel Jason replied thoughtfully, "I guess somewhere along the line we became more…tolerant of the Souls. Maybe if we hadn't meet Auntie it would have been a lot different."

'Auntie' was the affectionate name given by Jason and the others to Autumn Gusting Wind. A kindly Soul who had first helped and protected the Humans during the early days of the Souls' invasion of Earth. It was with her help that this small clan of humans had been able to survive in the city. She had loved them, and they loved her back. And they were greatly sadden when she became one of the many Souls to succumb to the mysterious plague.

"You guys found Autumn years before we met Wanda. There might be more Souls out there than we think who would be friendly to us," speculated Ian.

"Trust me, not many," replied Jason with a frown. "Back in the day, Autumn tried speaking with other Souls about humans. Carefully, of course, nothing to reveal how far she was going to protect us. Most didn't even want to hear about it. We were just bunch of violent animals to most of them." Jason's face clouded with anger. "They take over billions of us, and we're the monsters."

"Yeah, I know," said Ian sympathetically. There was no denying that most Souls still greatly feared 'wild' Humans. They saw humans as vicious and savage race, no longer worthy of their world. Souls were kind and peaceful to each other, always. The violence humans were capable of inflicting was nearly incomprehensible to the gentle Souls. And nothing proved this to the Souls more than when they learned the source of the plague. The cause of the illness, a seemingly simple bacteria, was found to have been developed and released by an enigmatic group of people who work for an organization ominously called the 'Facility.'

Jason and Ian reached the end of the tunnel. It dead ended at a brick wall. The old ruddy colored bricks had faded to a dull brown and looked to be barely held in with the decaying mortar. Both men did a quick check as they looked back to ensure no one had discreetly followed them. Jason pushed with his hand on a weathered old brick to the right side of the wall and then quickly yanked on two more bricks in the middle of the wall. There was a faint clunk from behind the barrier and after a few seconds both Jason and Ian slowly pushed the 'wall' back until it swung wide open.

As the two men made their way into the hidden section of the tunnels, Jason cleared his throat. Ian glanced back as the fake wall clicked back into place and then back to Jason. The stocky man had a quizzical expression on his face as he stared at Ian.

"What?" asked Ian as they resumed their walk.

"Do you trust Seeker Bright Moon?" inquired Jason. His face had grown tight with concern. "I mean, you're still kind of an outsider here. You never had to deal with her when she was chasing us. What's your opinion of her?"

Ian considered his answer while they walked along. He and Wanda were a relative new addition to this little clan of Humans in Chicago. They traveled here just over two months ago. After learning about the plague and the unusual alliance between Humans and Souls, Wanda had come hoping to find these Humans and work for real peace between their two people. They had barely arrived and located Marc's group when members of the Facility led a series of brutal attacks.

In the space of a day, the soldiers of the Facility had brought the city to utter panic. Agents decimated the ranks of the Seekers and took a dozen Souls hostage. In an effort to destroy any chance of peace between Humans and Souls they killed Tim, a young boy, and made it look like the Souls were responsible. Enraged Marc's group nearly launched their own attack on the Souls before they learned of the deception. In the end, it was Marc who faced off against the leader of these soldiers. A psychopath named Adams, who revealed the truth about the plague and the coming war between the Facility and the Souls. They had little concern about how many people died, as long as the Souls were destroyed.

Mulling his answer over carefully Ian said, "She's had plenty of opportunities to betray us, and she's helped keep the remaining Seekers off our trail."

"But do you trust her?" asked Jason, "Everything we've heard lately sounds like the Seekers are getting very paranoid. If they start getting suspicious of her, what's to stop them from forcing her to tell them everything she knows?"

"Souls would never harm her, they're just not capable of violence towards each other," said Ian. "And Marc trusts Bright Moon."

"Yeah," replied Jason with a grimace, "but I don't think Marc is entirely level-headed when it comes to dealing with her."

Ian wondered if Jason's real concern was Bright Moon's and Marc's budding romance. As much as he had found these people to begrudgingly accepting of Souls, they were more than a little perplexed by Ian's and Wanda's relationship. Human and Soul relationships were still unusual and more than a little rare. An affair between a Human and Seeker should have been impossible. No one had spoken openly against Marc's relationship, but Ian sensed there were limits to what his new family was willing to accept.

"Look," said Ian to Jason as they crossed through from the regular passageway to a narrow damp tunnel. He had to step carefully as they made their way forward. "I don't know Bright Moon very well so I'm not in a good position to judge, but Wanda and she have talked. Wanda thinks in a lot of ways Bright Moon is very lonely. That as a Seeker she feels isolated from her own people. That in some ways she's better at relating to Humans than Souls."

Jason was silent again as he digested Ian's response. Ian wasn't sure how the man felt about his answer. They were now nearing their shared destination, a set of old stairs leading up from the tunnels to their hidden home in an old hotel building. As they neared the base of the creaky old stairs, Ian saw there was a figure sitting on the bottom step. His smile only grew as he saw who sitting there waiting for him.

"Wanda," said Ian as he and Jason drew to a stop in front of his petite golden-haired girlfriend, "what are you doing here?"

"I'm taking a break from our discussions with Healer Long Rivers. I figured I would come wait for you," said Wanda with a growing smile of her own. She rose gracefully off the bottom of the stairs and Ian moved to wrap his arms around her. She stopped, taking a good look at Ian dressed in his dark clothing and she put up a hand to block his embrace. "You're dirty," she admonished him.

Ian looked down at himself and then Jason. It was hard to not get filthy running around these old tunnels. With a shrug of his shoulders, he pulled Wanda's small form to him, despite her protests. She let out a happy shriek as Ian pulled her to him. Putting his arm protectively around Wanda, Ian saw Jason give a quick roll of his eyes at his and Wanda's display.

But Ian also saw Jason focus on Wanda's eyes. The short man's flashlight was reflecting off the silver in Wanda's eyes. The silver, the trademark of a Soul, cast dancing mirrored light on the steps as all three of them began to ascend the stairs. It wasn't easy for Jason, hell it wasn't easy for any of them. The idea of making a lasting peace with the aliens that had nearly driven mankind to extinction has a bitter pill to swallow. But this small band of rebel Humans was in a unique position to find peace with the Souls. Even while the Seekers still hunted for them and members of the Facility were undoubtedly planning their next attack. Between the big and the little it was a difficult time for them all.

"Com'on," grumbled Jason as he led the way up the stairs. "Getting late in the day and I'm starved."

Wanda and Ian exchanged smiles and followed after Jason.


	3. Chapter 3 – Departure

_**Chapter 3 – Departure**_

"Sunny," said Melanie Stryder as she poked her head into the small chamber that made up her and Kyle's small sleep quarters, "are you ready?"

The Soul named Sunlight Passing Through the Ice looked up from where she was packing a bag. It was an old duffle bag of Kyle's, fade to a washed out blue, the bag had seen better days. Its strap was broken and one nylon handle was attached to the bag by only a few threads. Luckily Sunny didn't have too many clothes and the piece of luggage wasn't even half full of her belongings.

In a soft gentle voice she replied, "Yes, I think so…" She trailed off and looked down at the floor of the cave. Her shoulders sagging, she let out a long sigh.

Melanie crossed into the small room and touched Sunny lightly on the arm. Kyle's work to widen Walter's old room resulted in a modest increase in size. Charitable to call it cozy for two people, but by all appearances Sunny loved the little room she shared with Kyle. She had taken to decorating the walls with drawings using pastel chalk, pictures representing sights from the ice world of the Bears. With a reassuring smile Melanie said, "Sunny, it's going to be fine. Kyle and I will be with you the entire time. Nothing bad is going to happen."

Sunny tried to return Melanie's smile, but it mostly came out as a minor twitch at the ends of her mouth. "I wish this weren't necessary, I would much rather stay here."

Melanie resisted getting annoyed and kept her voice even. Getting angry wouldn't help with Sunny, raised voices only caused the Soul to cower and retreat. "You've been on raids before, both with Wanda and then just by yourself. You're going to do just fine."

"But it's going to be so much longer," complained Sunny with a shake of her head. It sent her long curly black hair swishing around her face. Still pensive she continued, "I'm worried I'm going to mess up. Attract the attention of the Seekers and get you all you caught."

Melanie pursed her lips. She was going to need to take a different approach. The last two months had seen their supplies run dangerously low in the caves. A visit to several cities was needed to replenish everything from food to gardening tools. Up until recently a long term raid would have included Wanda. The golden-haired Soul was an expert at raids and Wanda, much to her chagrin, had become a superb liar when dealing with her own kind. Sunny, on the other hand, had only gone on one short foray to a nearby city. She was prone to panic attacks when it even came to the idea of lying. But Wanda was gone and so it feel to Sunny to fill her role.

"I know you're scared," said Melanie as she sat down on the mattress that made up Sunny's and Kyle's bed. She pulled her long legs up to her chest and patted the space next to her on the cushion. Sunny sat down next to her, her eyes still downcast in a mix of distress and anxiety. Melanie worked hard at presenting a calm and reassuring tone for the little Soul.

"I get scared too," began Melanie. "And you're right, it's so much nicer staying here at the caves. Sometimes I wish we never had to leave them." She shared a brief smile with Sunny. Since Kyle brought her to the caves, the Soul had slowly but surely relaxed and made friends with many of the Humans in the caves. Like Wanda, Sunny seemed determined to be of use to their small community and create as little discord as possible. She worked any job she was given without complaint and never took more food than she absolutely needed.

"But," explained Melanie, "I remember that everyone here depends on the raids. There is a lot of stuff we need that we can only get in the cities." She made a faint motion with her hand indicating Doc's and Sharron's room down the corridor. "Doc's nearly out of HEAL. What happens if someone gets hurt and he runs out of medicine?"

Sunny's eyes widen and with a tiny shake of her head she replied with concern rising in her voice, "No, that would be bad." She drew a deep breath and slowly let it out slowly. "I guess I have to help." She gave Melanie a tentative smile and stood up from the bed.

As Melanie stood up, Sunny added in a wistfully, "I just wish Wanderer was going with us. I miss her."

"So do I Sunny," replied Melanie. Her own words growing thick in her throat as thought about her 'Soul Sister'. Wanda was working away at forging a peace agreement with a group of friendly Souls and Humans in Chicago. This group worked in secret, but they had hopes in time they could take their initiative for co-existence between Humans and Souls public. As usual, the major roadblock towards finding such peace was the Seekers.

Ever since their near-disastrous expedition to Chicago, the Seekers had been hunting for them. During their time in Chicago, Lacey had briefly impersonated the black clothed Seeker she had once been. Her ruse was discovered and Lacey barely escaped. This had set off a chain reaction within the ranks of the Seekers. They had believed the Soul controlling Lacey to be dead, lost out in the desert while she vainly looked for Humans. With the discovery that her host was alive and well, the Seekers had returned in force to the surrounding desert.

While the Seekers didn't know about Jeb's caves, they left barely an inch of the surrounding area unscratched. Helicopters swarmed in the sky as teams of Seekers looked on the ground for any evidence of Humans, past or present. And they would have been found if it weren't for the help of the two Seekers in Chicago. Bright Moon on Fallen Snow and Night Ember Lights provided information on the Seekers' movements and search patterns to the Marc and the other rebels in Chicago. They in turn covertly relayed the information to Jeb and the others via Ham radio.

Even with the inside information on the Seekers search plans it had been a harrowing time. The sounds of the helicopters flying overhead brought up bad memories in Melanie, remembering when Wanda had sat with Walter in her body as the Seeker repeated passed over. Fearing the Seekers were using infrared monitors, they dared not even use the stoves to cook food. Jeb had joked that they must have their own spy satellite monitoring them by now. No one had found his joke funny.

Eventually the Seekers had given up the search and moved on to other areas to search for rouge Humans. Life was slowly returning to normal in the caves. With the pressing need for supplies Jeb and Jarred had decided they would risk leaving the safety of their home.

Leaving Sunny to finish her packing Melanie walked down the path in caves leading back to the main cavern. As she entered the massive chamber, the rays of the afternoon sun reflected brightly on the overhead mirrors. In the center of the room stalks of the waist-high corn grew in neat lines. About a dozen men and women worked away at watering and fertilizing the dry soil. She took sight of the young boy and the old man working at one side of the field.

"But Uncle Jeb," she heard Jamie complain as she walked up, "why can't I use the radio to talk to Ian and Wanda?"

Melanie caught the sound of a resigned sigh from her uncle. "Jamie, that radio isn't a toy. It's not for making social calls."

Jamie grumbled under his breath as he went back to watering the soil from his rusty worn bucket. His mumbling was something her brother was doing more often these days. He had all the prospects of becoming quite the surly teenager. Melanie's motherly instincts towards her brother warred with her sisterly annoyance at his behavior. She decided on a tactful response to his peevish attitude.

"Jamie," she began once she had closed the distance to him. "I know you miss them, we all do. But we can't use the radio for more than just few minutes a day. We can't risk the Seekers finding out."

"I know," growled Jamie in response, "I get it Mel, I'm not stupid."

This was becoming his default response to her lately. Trying and failing to keep her voice down she shot back, "Jamie, I didn't say that. I know…"

Jamie interrupted her rudely as he dropped his bucket on the ground. It made a loud splash as the water sloshed out. "You don't listen to me! It's not like I want to talk for an hour. Just wanted to hear…their voices, that's all."

"Hey now," said Jeb in usual slow and deliberate words as he watched the two sibling's exchange grow heated. He nodded towards Jamie and spoke calmly, "Jamie you just keep working on this here corn. I need to speak to your sister alone."

"Fine," came Jamie's one-word response as he turned back to his bucket. Jeb's lips pursed together in a tight line, but he said nothing further. Melanie was more than ready to keep up going with her brother, but her uncle gently but firmly took her by the arm. He led her a short distance down the rows of corn till they exited the crops and they were well out of earshot of everyone else in the main cavern.

"Don't be minding Jamie," said Jeb after giving Melanie a few moments to cool down. "He's a Stryder man and at the age where he's mostly spit and fire."

"Uncle Jeb, he can't act go around acting like that…" started Melanie.

"Easy," replied Jeb as he held up his hands in a placating manner. "I know…but there is no use getting all worked up now. You're going to be leaving soon and there is no point having bad blood between you two." Jeb didn't need to add the danger Melanie would be in while she was away and the possibility she wouldn't come back.

Letting out a tired sigh, Melanie's eyes drifted to the floor. "He still blames me for leaving Wanda behind…" She trailed off and then she looked back up at Jeb. "But it wasn't like that! It was Wanda's choice! You know how she is when she gets it in her head to do something."

"Oh, I know," replied Jeb with a smile. "Trust me, I understand." He looked around the cavern as the people tended to the crops. "We owe those city folk plenty and if Wanda can pull off her plans, we'll all benefit. It's just Jamie is still young enough to feel like he's been abandon by Wanda."

Melanie gave her uncle a wry smile and said, "If Wanda heard that she'd tear across the country to reassure Jamie."

Jeb's smile grew to a broad grin. "Well, why do you think I keep that boy off the radio? We need to keep Wanda focused on her work. But don't worry about Jamie, he'll come around in time, you'll see."

"What about Jamie?" came Jared's voice from behind her. Melanie turned to see Jared and Kyle walking up to join them. Taking Jared's extended hand, Melanie pull the suntanned man close to her. Kyle followed after him and the four of them formed a small circle.

"It's nothing," replied Melanie with a dismissive wave of her hand at her brother. "Jamie is just being…well he's being a teenager."

"Ah," replied Jared. He'd seen enough examples of Jamie's recent behavior and Mel's reactions to her brother's antics. Lately he had found himself playing the peacemaker between the two. Now he wisely decided to not get involved.

"Well then," said Jeb, drawing the conversation back to himself. "I see the three of you of are ready to go." He gave a quick glance around the cavern and inquired, "Where's Sunny?"

"She was finished packing in her room," replied Melanie.

"And how is she?" asked Jeb as turned to Melanie and then Kyle. There was meaning in his words as he looked between the two. Responsibility for everyone in the caves was failing on the Soul's small shoulders and Jeb wanted to be sure she was ready.

Melanie glanced to Kyle. The elder O'Shea brother nodded slowly to himself and then answered. "Sunny's nervous of course." Kyle grew somber as he continued, "But we've talked a lot. She really wants to help us. She would never intentionally hurt anyone here."

"No one here is saying that," said Jeb.

"But we're keeping things from her," replied Kyle as he focused on Jeb and then on to Melanie, "I don't know if that's a good idea. Once she's back around Souls, she's bound to hear what happened in Chicago."

Melanie grimaced, it was on her recommendation that Sunny not be told about everything that had happened in on their expedition. Of their deadly encounter with Agents from the shadowy Facility. How these men were 'Recovered'. Their brains and the attached Souls surgically modified to allow the Human's conscious to regain control of their bodies. Easily passing as a Soul, they retained the alien's tell-tale silver-ringed eyes. It allowed them to infiltrate the Souls' society with devastating effects.

"I know," said Melanie with a sigh, "But I was worried it would freak Sunny out. She already has a lot to worry about and I didn't want to add to it." She gazed to the ground, her voice growing soft as she recalled her last encounter with these 'Recovered' humans. "I don't know what was done to these people, but the one called Williams," and she shuddered at the man's name, "something woke up within him…something dark and twisted."

She felt Jared squeeze her hand and she leaned into him for support and comfort. Kyle weighed her argument for a moment and then shrugged non-committedly. "I'm just saying, we kept secrets from Wanda and that didn't turn out so well." They all shifted uncomfortably at memories of Wanda discovering Doc's botched surgery to remove Souls. Melanie couldn't think of anything to say in response so they all lapsed into an uneasy silence. Kyle had a distant expression on his face, recalling his own memories of dealing with Wanda in the beginning. At length Kyle shook himself from his own reverie and said, "I'll see how Sunny's doing."

As Kyle walked off Jared shook his head slowly and said with an edge of disbelief in his voice, "I'm still trying to adjust to Kyle being a voice of reason around here."

"Ah, change is good," replied Jeb with a grin as he watched Kyle head down a side passage. "If a man like Kyle can grow some sense, it speaks volumes to the potential of the human race." He turned back to Jared and asked, "You'll be leaving soon?"

"As soon as the sun's down," answered Jared with nod.

Jeb nodded as well. "Well...I've got work around here to do." He turned to leave but then paused and looked both Melanie and Jared over, as if to memorize the couple in his memory. In a soft voice he said, "Be careful, be safe, and come home as soon as you can."

Jared made a small inclination of his head in agreement with the old man. But Melanie let go of Jared's hand and crossed the distance to her uncle. She embraced him tightly and whispered, "I will Uncle Jeb."

Jeb patted her lightly on her back and then whispered his own response to Melanie. "Makeup with Jamie before you go, don't leave angry. You'll regret it if you do."

Melanie forced down a resigned groan and merely shook her head in slight bemusement of her uncle's requests. "Alright, alright, I will."

After Jeb had left to oversee the planting in the north field Melanie walked over to where Jamie continued to work on watering the corn. Jared followed her but kept a distance to allow the two a certain amount of privacy. Brother and sister stood silent for a few moments. Melanie was about to speak when Jamie went first.

Still looking down as he poured water on the thirsty plants Jamie said, "You're going soon." It wasn't a question, just a statement of fact.

"Jamie," began Melanie but she then stopped herself. She didn't want to lecture or scold him again. Jamie was growing up, and this world they now lived in didn't allow the luxury of having an idyllic or lengthy childhood. "Jamie, baby, I'll miss you." Her voice becoming tight with emotion.

Half a second, that was all it took to have Jamie revert from a teenager to a little boy. He had dropped his bucket and embraced her tightly before Melanie knew what had happened. She smiled to herself as she hugged him back. She felt Jared come up behind her and then there was a third set of arms, encircling both siblings. They all held on to each other in a soft silence.

Melanie could feel when Jamie spoke, his head was in her shoulder. He was running through another of his growth spurts. Soon he'd be as tall as her. "Love you Mel, please come back."

"I will Jamie," said Melanie, "I promise."


	4. Chapter 4 – Revealed

**_Chapter 4 – Revealed _**

"Well, another day, another dollar," said Seeker Owen as he completed his review of his report displayed on the monitor. He smiled to himself, the day was drawing to a close and he felt happy at his completed work. Turning in his chair, he took a moment to look out of his cubical office. The large square windows running the length of the office area permitted a beautiful view of the late afternoon in Washington DC.

From behind him in their shared office Seeker Grey Dawns shook his head slowly. "Honestly Owen, you say some of the strangest things." His voice held light amusement as he spoke to his friend. "You say things like that or 'A penny saved is a penny earned.' What is that supposed to mean?"

Owen turned in his chair to face his friend. Seeker Grey Dawns or at least Grey Dawns' body was broad-faced man with jet black hair neatly slicked back. While his face was plain and unremarkable, Grey Dawns had distinct sharp blue eyes. Eyes which had a talent for detail and spotting even the smallest of irregularities. A most useful trait for his calling. Like Owen, Grey's human host was a little on the short side compared to most Human hosts. A minor physical quirk, but the similarity had been the basis for the two to become good friends.

Owen shrugged with a faint embarrassed smile. "It's just a saying."

Leaning back in his chair, Grey considered Owen's comment. "It's a Human saying," remarked Grey at length, " about money." Owen couldn't quite tell from his friend's expression what he was thinking.

"It's meant to express the completion of the day's work," elaborated Owen.

"It sounds like the phrase means you're being paid for your work. But Owen," questioned Grey with a bemused look, "we're not paid. Money doesn't exist anymore."

A faint groan escaped Owen and after seeing his friend's perplexed look he leaned forward in his chair. Grey could be so formal and literal. Owen sometimes wondered if his friend every relaxed. "You sound like a Spider, Grey. You're over thinking this. As usual."

"I was never a Spider and neither were you," replied Grey. Then with a touch of indignation that bordered on a grumble added, "And I am not overthinking this."

Owen could help it, he sat back in his chair and laughed out loud. His easy going laugh attracted the attention from several of the neighboring cubicles. Owen held up his hands in a calming gesture as several of his nearby fellow Seekers looked at him and Grey oddly. "I do apologize for interrupting everyone. Please forgive me." He indicated Seeker Grey Dawns and added, " Grey said something funny."

Other Seekers in the office nodded and turned back to their work. From the cubicle across from Owen and Grey, Seeker Amber turned to the men and said, "Well there's a first time for everything." Looking at Grey, she asked, "Grey Dawns, what was your joke?"

Owen looked at his friend. Grey Dawns' broad face was growing red with embarrassment. Owen felt an immediate sense of shame. He had not meant to create discomfit for Grey. Owen's smile faded and he addressed Amber somberly. "No Amber Rains, Grey Dawns wasn't telling a joke. We were discussing a phrase I was using. I felt he was overthinking the comment and now I've accidently caused his humiliation by laughing."

"Owen," chided Amber softly, "you should apologize."

"I know," replied Owen as he hung his head. As Amber Rains returned to her work, Owen looked up a little sheepishly at Grey Dawns. "I'm sorry, that was rude. I didn't mean to laugh at you."

With a shake of his head, Grey Dawns said matter-of-factly, "You don't need to apologize Owen. You just find humor in odd things."

"True," reflected Owen. Drawing his chair a little closer to Grey Dawns he said in a quieter tone. "You know my Host was given to laughing and finding humor in many things in his life. Sometimes I think his sense of humor bleeds through into me."

Grey Dawns was silent for a while. When he finally did speak, his voice was low and cautionary. "Owen that's why I'm a little…concerned. Talking about money or your Human host effecting you could cause some to consider you to be unstable or," and he lowered his voice to a whisper, "not a Soul at all."

Owen's eyes widened in surprise and he quickly sucked in a breath at what Grey Dawns was implying. Seeing the expression on his friend's face, Grey quickly added, "I'm not saying you are, but others who don't know you as well as I might draw the wrong conclusion."

They both sat silent for a moment. Owen felt his former good mood begin to slip away. Owen thanked Grey Dawns for his advice and then turned back slowly to his computer. He could feel Grey Dawns' sharp eyes on him for a few seconds more and then heard Grey Dawns turn in his chair and return to his work. But Owen continued to stare at his screen, lost in thought.

_'Not a Soul,'_ thought Owen as he pondered his friend's words and suppressed a shudder. Only a few months ago the idea there could be Souls, let alone Seekers, who could be actual disguised wild Humans was laughable. No, not just laughable, utterly absurd. But the last few months had seen the impossible happen with frightening regularity. First the disease, immune to all their medicine, had come to the city of Chicago and destroyed thousands of lives. Then scarily a month later the same city was under attack. A starship had been blown up as it left the city, many of the Souls on board lost. All these actions initiated by a group of Humans hiding in the city.

The savage humans had even managed to infiltrate the Seekers' headquarters in Chicago. These false Seekers had proceeded to murder their comrades in the chaos created by the starship's destruction. The method used by the infiltrating Humans was not a superficial disguise like contact lenses. Such a simple masquerade would have never fooled the Seekers. No, these monstrous Humans had a much more grisly technique. Owen had not heard all the horrific details, but these poor Souls were…mutilated. Each of their silvery bodies cut, cauterized and weakened until the host Human recovered and regained control. They would look just like a Soul, the same beautiful gleaming silver in their eyes, but with a cruel and vicious alien mind in control.

Giving up just staring at his computer monitor, Seeker Owen turned back to Grey Dawns. His friend was busy with tabulating possible Human sightings. It was an essential job as the Seekers would use the most credible sightings to launch more comprehensive investigations. Working worldwide since the attacks Seekers had redoubled their efforts to track down these rogue Humans. However, their efforts so far had not produced much success.

Feeling his previous good mood was gone for good, Owen spoke to Grey Dawns in a hushed tone. "Did you hear about Seeker Samuelsson in New York city?"

Grey Dawns looked up from his work with a small frown. "Who in New York city?"

Owen explained. "Samuelsson worked at the Seekers' New York division for the last two years and he vanished a week ago. No sign of him can be found."

"That is most unfortunate," replied Grey Dawns. He cocked his head to the side while his small, confused frown remained. "But Owen, why are you bringing this up?"

"He disappeared right before the Healers tested the city's Seekers for any insertion anomalies," said Owen. Since Chicago, Seekers had been testing to see if any other false Seekers remained hidden in their ranks.

His frown deepening, Grey Dawns asked, "We think this Seeker Samuelsson was an imposter?"

"No one has said that, just seems strange…doesn't it?" said Owen.

Grey Dawns paused in thought, but before he could answer Seeker Amber Rains from across the way spoke up softly. "I heard that two Seekers went missing right before the tests in Florida." Self-consciously she shrugged her shoulders when both men turned to face her. "Sorry to listen in, but everyone is talking about it."

Still frowning Grey Dawns said, "We don't know all the facts. For all we know, these Seekers were sent on special assignment."

"Maybe," said Amber, "but the two I heard about were apparently partnered. When their shared apartment was examined, several very unusual communication devices were found."

"I hadn't heard anything about this event," remarked Owen, surprised at the lack of official communication. "What type of communications gear?" But Seeker Amber shook her head, not knowing the details. Owen asked both his colleges, "Why so much secrecy on these events?"

"I believe there is still concern there are other fake Seekers in our origination. Information is being restricted until we can be sure all infiltrations have been removed," clarified Amber.

Grey Dawns' grimace lightened to a soft smile. "All Seekers in the Washington DC bureau have been checked by Healers. We are all who we say we are. There is no need for deception or secrecy. This is just rumor and gossip."

"Perhaps," replied Amber. "But maybe the issue is not with barbarous Humans and what they have done with our precious Souls brethren. Maybe some of us are willing participants in the Humans' trickery."

"Impossible," snorted Grey Dawns. "Why would any Soul willing help a Human?"

"Well," began Amber and paused to consider her response. She tapped a finger to her chin as she thought about her theory. "Perhaps not willing, there have been cases of Human hosts influencing us. Remember I was on that Arizona case a few years ago. That poor Soul was obviously influenced by her host."

While Grey Dawns and Amber Rains continued quietly discussing the possibilities of host influences, Owen found himself withdrawing from the conversation and becoming contemplative. He wondered about himself and his own host body – Owen Mitchell. He had never felt like his mind or body wasn't his own. True, the host's body and memories could carry over some influence, which was normal. Owen the Human had liked jokes and finding humor in his life. Was that such a bad thing to have an affect on you?

Owen had originally come from the Dragon world. His name there was a very long and unpronounceable name in the Human languages, so he had decided to adopt his host's name. He had felt it was somewhat appropriate. Owen Mitchell had been an FBI agent. The Human's calling was not unlike his own. The agency of the FBI provided law and order in the Humans' society and so did the Seekers in the Souls'. Many other Souls took their Human host names as well. But that didn't mean they were being influenced by their hosts, did it?

"Your attention, please."

Seeker Owen started, surprised by the crisp new voice which sounded from the far end of the floor. Amber and Grey stopped their conversation, also startled. In nearby cubicles, heads were popping up to identify the new speaker. Rising up with Grey, Owen followed their gaze to the source of the voice. Two figures stood near the entrance to their shared office suite. One was a tall older man with midnight colored skin. The other was small and rather young. A petite woman with a pixie cut of straw-colored hair.

"That's Seeker Jade in the Hollows," said Amber Rains in amazement as she stared at the young blond-haired woman.

"I thought she was in Europe," said an equally awed Grey Dawns.

Seeker Jade in the Hollows moved from the entrance and down the central aisle dividing the rows of cubical rooms. Her small face held a bright smile as she slowly surveyed the standing Seekers. Coming to a stop at the midway point of the hallway, she spoke in a light peaceful voice. "I do apologize for interrupting at the end of the day. But I and Healer Dry Stones," and she stopped to indicated the lanky dark skinned man who remained at the beginning of the walls forming the cubical offices, "need your cooperation."

A Seeker, Owen couldn't see for sure who it was, standing farther down the row of workspaces said softly, "Seeker Jade, I'm pleased to meet you. What do you need of us?"

"We need all of you to come with me. We will be performing a simple medical test on your host bodies," replied Jade in the Hollows in the same pleasant, happy tone.

"What tests?" asked Grey Dawns.

From where he remained standing Healer Dry Stones spoke up in response. "It's a routine inspection of your host bodies." His voice growing slightly rough he added, "For anything unusual."

Turning about in the office space, Jade asked sweetly, "That will not be a problem for anyone?"

"Of course not," said several Seekers in unison. Jade's host body nodded happily at their answer. Around the office, Seekers made ready to leave and follow Jade and Dry Stones. Owen dropped to his chair and proceeded to close out his workstation. He wondered just what tests were going to do. Grey Dawns also sat down and began to work away on his computer.

From his desk, Owen heard Amber Rains say, "Wow, Seeker Jade. She's been on what…five different worlds?"

"Six worlds, I believe," replied Owen as he finished shutting down his computer.

"And from Origin to boot," said Amber as she came out of her cubical office. She adjusted her dark uniform, seemingly wanting to look her best for the prestigious Seeker and quickly followed after the other office staff.

Standing up Owen moved to follow when he noticed Grey Dawns had not shutdown his computer. His friend remained sitting while typing rapidly on his keyboard, his eyes tightly focused on the monitor.

"Coming Grey Dawns?" asked Owen.

Not looking up from his work, Grey Dawns said in a low voice, " Sorry Owen, I've got one task to finish and then I'll go. You go on ahead, I'll join you in a minute."

"Oh, it's not a problem. I'll wait," replied Owen as he sat back down in his chair.

Grey Dawns stopped his work for a moment. His face and body went very still. After a few seconds he began working again and replied, "Suit yourself."

Owen waited for a minute and then for another. By now the entire office floor was empty and quiet. The only sound coming from Grey Dawns station. Owen was about to ask Grey Dawns just what he was working on that was so important when the man finished typing. With a long slow sigh, he said simply, "It is done."

"What's done?" asked Owen, but was interrupted by a buzzing noise coming from Grey Dawns' computer. On his screen a red flashing warning box had popped up. It flashed the same notification message over and over.

Confused and a little concerned over Grey Dawns behavior, Owen leaned forward to examine the error on the screen. The warning message held the text - 'Unauthorized Access – Station Locked'. It was a security lockout message. Turning to Grey Dawns, he asked with growing alarm, "What did you do?"

But instead of answering, Grey Dawns stood up and strolled slowly over to the bank of windows looking out to the city. In the distance the rising tower of the Washington Monument could be seen. Leaning against the glass window Grey Dawns face grew sad, in fact, incredibly sorrowful, his whole body filling with grief. A slow trickle of tears ran down his face as he stood looking out the window.

Owen had never seen his friend act like this. Grey Dawns was always professional and well in control of his body's emotions. But not now, he was stricken by some deep pain. "Grey Dawns..." said Owen, growing from worried to distraught at his friend's apparent emotional breakdown.

"You know," began Grey Dawns in a weak and cracked voice, " when I was a kid my parents brought me to D.C. for the first time. I wanted to see everything, dragged them to every museum and tourist attraction available. I miss them…"

"What!?" asked Seeker Owen in complete confusion.

Turning back to him, Grey Dawns wiped away the few tears on his face. He didn't bother with his eyes and they remained watery, still filled with a deep grief. Owen and Grey Dawns stared at each other for long seconds, neither of them moving a muscle. Finally, Grew Dawns said with a slight shake of his head, " Enough tears." Then he laughed, in a way that was so foreign to Owen. "Or…maybe there can never be enough tears."

Owen blinked, a deep-seated fear was growing in him. "Grey Dawns, I need you to explain yourself."

But 'Grey Dawns' didn't appear to be listening. He pushed himself away from the window and began to speak. "Faked my first test…But I guess someone wasn't convinced. Or maybe the Seekers are just getting paranoid. They're not always the swiftest to catch on, but when they do…" Owen wasn't sure the man's speech was meant for him or if he was just talking out loud.

Intellectually Owen understood what was happening. Recognized that 'Grey Dawns' was an imposter, that there was a real possibility Owen had never met the true Grey Dawns. But Owens' emotions for his friend, whether they came from his host body or were all his own, prevented him from truly realizing the Human who stood before him.

"Who are you?" whispered Owen.

"Does it matter?" asked the Human. "This will be all over soon. They'll be here any second." And Owen did hear the sound of someone, indeed the sounds of many people running down the hallway connecting to the office. But he remained frozen, unable to move.

"You know Owen," said the Human, "I was prepared for just about anything when I came here. I'd have to live and work among you…things. Had to hide myself completely, not the easiest thing to do. Didn't expect…"

At the opening to the office floor, Seeker Jade and several others Seeker ran in. They quickly scanned the surrounding cubicles and then took sight of the two men. Seeker Jade's voice, shrill with urgency, reached Owen, "Stop Him! Stop him at once!" Owen forced himself to move forward, his feet seemed to be weighed down by unseen weights, he moved so slowly. The Human smiled at the advancing Seekers and then without warning his whole body staggered. Abruptly Owen found his near paralysis gone and he caught the body as it slumped to the floor.

"Owen," gasped out the Human. His broad face was twisted in pain and saliva foamed at the edge of his mouth. Owen gripped the body tightly and then slowly and clumsily lowered both of them to the floor. He sniffed a bitter smell on the man's breath…cyanide. The Human swallowed and tried again. "Never thought…I would becomes friends with one…of you."

His whole mind had grown numb with shock and Owen could only force out only the simplest of words. "Don't die," he cried. The others had reached them and there were calls to bring the Healers at once. Seeker Jade in the Hollows commanded for the affected locked computer to be isolated. Bodies swarmed around Owen and he just continued to cradle his friend's head in his lap.

"Owen," croaked the Human in a very faint voice.

Seeker Jade dropped down on her knees by Owen and the fallen Human. "Who are you?" she demanded.

But the Human's eyes focused only on Owen and Owen realized there was still the sheen of silver in those eyes. Then the Humans mouth moved weakly. "For what…its worth…I'm sorry…" His voice trailed off and the light in his eyes began to fade. The body took one last gasp of air and the Human spoke his last words ever. "What's coming will…kill you all."


	5. Chapter 5 - Exchange

_**Chapter 5 - Exchange**_

"Come on! You've got to meet us half way," said Scott Alderman. He punctuated his statement with an exasperated sigh as he pushed away from the table and leaned back in his chair.

Sensing the Human's frustration, Healer Long Rivers tried his best to maintain a calming demeanor. He smiled and clasped his hands together in what he hoped would be a friendly, if not pleading gesture. Humans could be very stressful for a Soul like him. His people were always kind, soft spoken, and worked efficiently together. Humans, on the other hand, were loud, less than cordial, and argumentative in general – and this was when they were 'friendly'.

Starting his words as gently as possible, Long Rivers responded, "I believe I see your point, Scott. But isn't better if we apply rules to each race's specific issues and needs?"

Scott was shaking his head before Long Rivers had even finished. "No, No, you need to take a long view on this problem."

"I believe I am…" began Long Rivers when Scott made a face. His jaw had locked and his teeth were clenched, his face starting to darken in anger. Long Rivers gulped and the rest of his words died in his throat.

Marc Walters watched as Long Rivers and Educator Dry Sands on the Plain stiffened. He could feel the young woman's posture going ridged at Scott's growing anger. Only Wanda, sitting at the end of the dining table, didn't react to Scott's anger. She had spent more time with Humans and was far more used to their volatile nature. Seeing his friend's frustrations was getting the better of him and frightening the Souls in the room, Marc laid a hand on Scott's shoulder. He didn't say a word to Scott merely a shake of his head.

"Look," said Scott after he took a moment to calm down. "What you are saying is there will be two sets of laws. One for Humans and one for Souls. Please trust me, in our history it has never worked out well for a society when such a system is in place. No matter how much you try, it creates a divisive separation in society. Which leads to resentment or envy between the two groups and then right on to segregation. If we really want to have co-existence between Souls and Humans, everyone must be equal before a common set of laws."

Dry Sands spoke up. Her face had grown confused at Scott's little speech. "But Scott, your history is full of examples of those who could freely flaunt your laws when it suited them. How can we apply the same rules to our people if there will be some Humans who willfully ignore the law?"

Scott stared at her with a deepening frown. "Alright, you need to back that statement up and explain," he said after trying and failing to make sense of her comment.

Marc scrutinized Dry Sands. She still had the same skinny librarian look the first time Marc had met her, minus the horn-rimmed glasses he pictured all librarians wearing. Marc guessed Dry Sands' body was still pretty young, maybe only twenty years old, but he was pretty sure that Dry Sands the Soul was quite old. The Soul woman could be very shy, sometimes saying less than five words in one of their secret meetings. But he had learned when she did speak, she could be a fierce advocate for or against you. He had a feeling Scott was about to receive the latter.

Straightening in her chair, Dry Sands began. "Your justice system often allowed for the rich and powerful to secure better representation than your poor. Those with better legal defense would escape punishment for their crimes. Or in some cases the influent simply 'bought' the verdict they desired. How can you claim all were equal before the law when such abuses regularly occurred?"

Hoping to defuse the still tense atmosphere in the room, Marc let a small grin form on his face. Smiling at Dry Sands, he said, "Point for Dry Sands, got a solid rebuttal, Scott?" He was watching Scott and missed the blush which formed on the young woman's face.

"Ughhh," groaned Scott. Shooting an irritated look at Marc he grumbled, "You're not helping." Turning back to Dry Sands, he attempted to defend his argument. "Yeah, I'll admit things like that happened, but it didn't occur all the time. Plenty of people, rich or poor, influential or not were given fair treatment in our justice system." Scott paused as a thought came to him. Solicitously he continued, "Just because our justice system wasn't perfect doesn't mean it doesn't work. You don't give up and drop it because mistakes are made. You just have to work harder at fixing the flaws."

After weeks of meetings between the band of Humans and the small group of rebel Souls, both sides were still struggling to reach common ground on how to achieve a lasting peace between the two races. Both sides had a multitude of problems to overcome before they would even be close to a workable solution. There was an obvious one, how to deal with the Seekers. The Souls tasked with hunting Humans and protecting their own kind were becoming increasingly paranoid and suspicious. But too often the Souls were troubled by the more mundane problems the Humans raised. Issues of humanity's rights, obligations, and opportunities in a shared world of Humans and Souls were causing the aliens no end of problems. It was becoming apparent to Marc and the other Humans that while the Souls were willing to entertain the idea of living side-by-side with Humans, they had no real idea how to. Always in their past they had completely assimilated a race they encountered. Occupying the bodies of an entire race was co-existing in their minds. To freely allow the host race to continue had been unthinkable to the aliens until they meet Humans.

"Perhaps," began Wanda as she straightened in her chair, "we should table this particular issue for later. We've made more progress in handling human representation in our Quorums."

"Sounds good to me," replied Marc. He paused as he felt his stomach rumble. A quick check at his watch told him it was approaching noon. He had other places to be and wanted to get moving. Glancing back to Wanda, he added, "How about we break for lunch and pick this up afterwards?"

"Yes!" replied Wanda enthusiastically. "We've all worked hard today, best to take a break." They were quick nods from around their table.

"Finally," said Scott with a tired sigh, "something we can all agree on."

There were nods from around the table and the previous tension in the room began to fade. Wanda got up from her chair and padded over to the adjoining room that contained their small kitchen. Marc reflected that Wanda was doing well in her new home. She had quickly adapted to his little family. He had been surprised when the visiting Soul had elected to stay in Chicago and work to find a lasting peace. It would be a dangerous to remain in the city full of Souls and his first impression of Wanda was she would be too fragile and weak to endure such difficulties. But Wanda had proved him very wrong, she had risen to the challenge and he found himself increasing relying on the little Soul to help guide their meetings.

Wanda gestured to Scott and Long Rivers to join her in the kitchen. The Human and the Soul exchanged wary glances but followed the little woman's request. Wanda put them to work while she pulled various items out of the refrigerator. Soon the three of them worked together to prepare sandwiches. Marc had to smile to himself, Wanda was working her magic. She was quite literally getting the two opponents to break bread.

Noting the time Marc realized he really needed to get going. He gathered his notebook and was beginning to rise when he noticed Dry Sands had moved her seat closer to his. She glanced at him and then at the doorway. Shyly she asked, "Marc, are you leaving?"

"Got sort of a working lunch meeting downstairs," replied Marc as he stood up.

"Oh," replied the Soul woman and then look down at the empty dining room table. She looked as though she wanted to say something but then thought better of it.

"Don't worry," said Marc with a smile as he exited the room. "I'll be back before we start."

Leaving the dining room slash conference room, Marc moved briskly down narrow hallway of the Hotel Rose. There he found Paul, Mike, and Ian working on pulling up the old threadbare carpet on the hotel's floor. Giving himself a bit of a running start Marc nimbly leaped over the working men. Ian gave a surprised shout and Mike shot him an irritated glare as he landed on the far side of the men. Not slowing down he called over his shoulder, "Ian, your girlfriend is making lunch, you guys should get in on that." Any annoyances with him vanished as the men dropped their work and headed off to find Wanda and the promise of food.

Marc had been spending a great deal of time meeting with the Souls and truthfully he had a great deal of other much more mundane issues to worry about than trying to figure out interstellar relations. As usual it came down to securing food and supplies for his little family of thirty humans. A family which was very close to getting another member. Turning down the another passageway, he took sight of Kate Gonzales coming out of Mike's and Sarah's room. With her came their daughter Alexis, the little girl making quite a fuss.

"Mommie," squealed Alexis.

"Com'on runt," grumbled Kate as she led the little girl into the hallway. "Give your mom some peace for fifteen minutes."

"Alexis, go on with Auntie Kate," came Sarah's tired voice from the room.

"We've got lunch brewing," said Marc as he came to a stop beside Kate and Alexis.

"Perfect," replied Kate with a tired sigh. She turned down to Alexis and managed to put in some genuine cheer into her voice. "Let's go get food, Alexis."

Before she had even finished the little girl was already running as fast as her little legs would allow her down the hallway announcing, "Lunch…Lunch…Lunch!"

Marc laughed but stopped himself when he saw the dark look on Kate's face. "She been impossible today," snapped Kate as she indicated the receding Alexis.

Resisting to further anger Kate, he turned from the glowering young woman and stuck his head into the small room. The aged hotel room would be undersized for one person and for a family of three soon expecting another it was bursting at the seams. Attempting to fit on the bed half filled with clothes lay an exhausted Sarah.

"How are you doing?" asked Marc.

Sarah's eyes were closed and both hands were gently rubbing temples. Without opening her eyes, she turned towards Marc's voice. "Ready for this kid to be born."

Marc's eyes landed on Sarah's very pregnant belly. "He's kicking again?"

"And then some, think he wants out as much as me," replied Sarah as she moved her hands from her head to her stomach. Running her hands over her swollen midsection, she said in a tender whisper, "Easy there little boy. Give your mom a few minutes peace."

"I could get Mike if you want," said Marc distractedly as he watched Kate run after the escaping Alexis.

"No," came back Sarah's sleepy reply. "This tired mother just needs some alone time."

"Not a problem," agreed Marc. He didn't want to interrupt Sarah further and nor did he want to be late. Speaking softly, he said, "Get some sleep Sarah, you're going to need it." The expectant mother gave him a drowsy half reply as she drifted off to sleep.

Turning from the room Marc continued on his way, needing to hurry or he would be late. He descended the stairs to the next floor two at a time. Despite everything, Marc realized he was truly in a good mood today. He knew it came from his upcoming meeting. Hopefully, she would be surprised…And happy. For she didn't always take his surprises well.

The 'she' being Bright Moon on Fallen Snow. He found the Seeker standing in the hallway of the second floor of the hotel. She was studying the newly replaced door to a nearby room and didn't see his approach. Marc quashed down a childish urge to startle her. Instead he cleared his throat to get her attention and spoke softly. "Not bad, huh?"

Bright Moon's body shifted smoothly as she turned to face him. She glanced around the hallway with its freshly painted walls and brand new carpeting. At seeing him standing in the hall, a small smile formed on her lips. Nodding she said, "Yes, it's very nice. Your people have done an excellent job restoring this floor."

"Thanks," replied Marc with a mild shrug of his shoulders. Hesitantly he added, "It's nice to see you, Bright Moon."

She nodded and replied a little stiffly, "I'm pleased to see you as well, Marc."

Their relationship wasn't the easiest, reflected Marc. Even when you looked past the difficulties of their two different spices, they had little time to meet each other and even less occasion when they could be alone. It was important to make such moments count. Joining her they walked comfortably down the hallway. As they went he gestured to the above floor. "We're already pulling up stakes upstairs and starting to tear it down."

Stopping and looking up the ceiling, Bright Moon asked, "And you will move to the fourth floor?"

"Yep," answered Marc with a bob of his head. "We'll close off the fifth floor as we open this one."

Bright Moon grew thoughtful. "So you keep a buffer between your people and everyone else. Repairing one floor and then moving higher. What happens when you run out of floors?"

"I'm hoping we've pulled together some type of a peace agreement between Souls and Humans before we run out of places to hide in the hotel," explained Marc.

Giving Marc a weak smile Bright Moon pulled a small memory card from her pocket on her black dress pants. "Hopefully this will be helpful in those efforts."

Marc took the card and held it in his hand. Carefully studying it and then Bright Moon he asked, "Did you have a problem getting it or smuggling it out of your headquarters?"

Bright Moon shook her head. "No, the data isn't something Seekers generally track. Few would think to look for Souls willingly helping or hiding Humans. Our records deal mostly with reported sightings, unaccounted missing supplies, or other unusual activities that could signal humans."

"Well, Wanda seems to think there are more Souls like her out there," said Marc. He waved the tiny memory card around and added. "If we can track them down and make contact we're in a better position to make our case to the rest of the Souls."

"I suppose," replied Bright Moon noncommittally as they walked along. Marc noted her distress, none of this was easy for Bright Moon. She knew better than anyone how difficult it would be to convince her fellow Seekers to allow even a small number Humans to live. Her willingness to help his people put her in a very stressful position. Maintaining her job while feeding the rebels information had her lying and deceiving Souls on a daily basis. Regardless of what others thought, Marc knew Bright Moon did not enjoy lying. He hoped his little surprise might help her relax.

Coming to a stop at a closed door, Marc couldn't help but grin at Bright Moon. She frowned slightly, looking at him and then to the closed door. A little suspiciously she asked, "Marc, what are you doing?"

Putting his best 'I'm innocent' face on, Marc briskly turned the doorknob and swung open the closed door. With over-dramatic fanfare to the contents in the room, he bowed to her and announced, "Ta-da!"

Bright Moon's eyes widened in surprise as she took in the contents of the room. The room was small like all the other accommodations in the hotel. Most of the space taken up by two twin beds. But on the bed nearest the door lay an elaborate display of dishes, plates, and silverware. Steam climbed up from the bowls full of baked chicken, mash potatoes, and sautéed vegetables. Nearby sat a glass pitcher full of chilled water, condensation running down it length.

Taking this all in Bright Moon turned back to Marc, her mouth still agape in surprise. She blinked and then closed her mouth. "For me?" she asked in a small voice.

"Well, if you're famished you can have it all," replied Marc with a smile. "But I was hoping we could share it."

For a moment a beautiful smile broke on Bright Moon's face. Delight danced in her silver-rimmed eyes as she gazed at Marc and then back to his surprise meal. Then her smile fell as wave of misery passed over her face. Looking dejectedly down at the ground, she said quietly, "I can't stay."

Marc's own smile retreated and he asked with growing confusion, "Why not?"

"I was followed…" began Bright Moon.

Marc immediately tensed at her words. His voice going tight with alarm he shot back with almost a shout, "What!? Where are they?"

"No…No, not here," said Bright Moon in a rush. She brought her hands up and lightly touched Marc on his chest, trying to calm him. "The Seekers followed me as far as my apartment. They believe I'm still there eating my lunch." Managing a small smile as she added, "I gave them what you would call, 'the slip.'"

Still worried Marc fought down his earlier rising panic. "Why are you being followed? Do they suspect you or Nigel of aiding us?"

Bright Moon sat down at the edge of the bed with a weary sigh. "I'm being followed for my own protection," she explained. "Seekers around the world are now being routinely monitored when not working. Partly this comes from efforts to track down any counterfeit Seekers in the organization. But also there are fears that we could be captured and forcefully 'recruited' for the Facility. They don't know exactly how the Human host is recovered, so any deviant behavior is to be reported at once."

Marc joined her on the edge of the bed. His fading fears for his people's safety was quickly being replaced with concern for the Soul Bright Moon on Fallen Snow. "I didn't know it was that bad…"

Her eyes going distant, Bright Moon spoke softly but there was an edge to her words. "It's not well known to the general public, but the Facility infiltration was much more pronounced and elaborate than anyone would have guessed. Multiple Seekers from many cities have gone missing in the last few weeks. Apparently Agent Taylor was only one of many."

"I'm sorry," replied Marc automatically as he remembered the hate filled Agent Taylor who masquerading as Seeker Simple Sunlight had gleefully slaughtered her Seeker colleagues.

Bright Moon could only give him a sad smile. It would be easy for her to blame all humans for the activities of the mysterious Facility. But she realized how varied humanity could be and realized that Marc's people were blameless in these events. Not quite sure what to say Marc also looked down at the carpeted floor. The food behind them forgotten, their silence stretched on as they both sat gloomily at the end of the bed.

"I should apologize to you," spoke up Bright Moon. She turned to the still hot plates of food and inhaled the lovely mixed aromas of the cooked food. "You made me this meal," said Bright Moon as a bashful expression began on her face.

"I would never inflict my atrocious cooking skills on my worst enemy," proclaimed Marc. When she became puzzled he explained, "Dell cooked the meal."

"He did?" remarked Bright Moon in amazement. "He would do this for me?"

"Well…" started Marc as he considered his answer. He held up his hand and brought his thumb and index finger nearly together. "Might have been a little arm twisting on my part."

Bright Moon fidgeted on the bed, looking unsure of herself. "Marc, I don't want to cause…friction between you and your friend." Folding her hands in her lap, she continued, "I know most of your people don't care for me…"

"Hey," said Marc firmly as he cut her off. "Don't worry about me and Dell. Also anyone here who has a problem with you has a problem with me." Bright Moon remained sitting, staring at her hands with an unreadable expression on her face. Marc regarded her and then did the only thing he could think of doing. He reached out for her, his arm slipping around her waist. She was so lost in her thoughts she barely noticed. But then with a firm tug he pulled her to him and she let out a breathy gasp of astonishment.

He felt her body stiffen as he held her close. She looked at him and then to his arm around her for a long moment and then in a soft and sad voice said, "Marc, this doesn't fix anything. The Seekers still hunt for your people. The Humans of the Facility are still capable of who know what type of carnage." Her voice grew weak and uneven as she spoke. "And I…I am a Seeker…everything your people rightfully hate."

"Shhh…" he whispered into her ear and felt her body shiver at his gentle hushing. Speaking in a warm whisper he told her, "Holding you isn't supposed to fix everything. Hell, it's not meant to fix anything. Just trying to comfort you." He felt her muscles in her body begin to relax. Gradually she leaned into him and let her head rest on his shoulder.

The sat in peaceful silence for long seconds. "This is nice," she said in a soft murmur. She turned her head on his shoulder and stared affectionately at him.

With a rough sound in his throat Marc said, "I do try," as he bent down and kissed her.

* * *

><p><em><strong>I've been very busy with work so I've not been able to write much. I wanted to highlight some of the difficulties the two races would have when trying to build the framework of co-existence. Next chapter we learn what the people of the facility have been up to. <strong>_

_**Read and review, thanks**_

_**-Walker.**_


	6. Chapter 6 – Grievance

_**Chapter 6 – Grievance**_

"You will forgive me, Mr. Alderman," said Healer Long Rivers as he watched the other Humans on the floor gather for lunch. He had chosen not eat any of the food he had helped prepare, instead choosing to watch the others enjoy his efforts. "I know little of your people's history or your efforts of governing yourselves. I didn't mean to insult you or dismiss your recommendations."

"It's alright," replied Scott with a shrug. "I guess I was playing devil's advocate on handling laws." With a self-conscious smile he continued, "I'm hardly an expert."

"I am a Healer, I scarcely count as an expert either," replied Long Rivers.

Scott shook his head and said with gentle disagreement, "You're a part of your Souls' Quorum. That's your peoples' government. It should count for something."

"I fear our peoples' form of governance isn't up to the task of building a lasting co-existence with humanity," said the Healer with a sad expression on his face.

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary," stated Scott as he finished with his sandwich.

"Who said this?" asked Wanda after she carefully wiped her mouth with her napkin. She had been listening carefully to Scott's and Long River's exchange.

Next her, Ian leaned back in his chair and considered for a moment. "Thomas Jefferson?"

"Close," replied Scott, "It was James Madison."

"I'm not sure I know these men. Who are they?" asked Wanda.

She had asked Scott but before the young man could reply Dry Sands on the Plain spoke up, her voice barely above a whisper. "They were both influential leaders at the beginning of the nation state that would come to occupy this region of the continent."

"Fathers of our country," added Ian with a smile.

"My apologies," said Wanda looking a somewhat chagrin. "Neither Melanie or Pet had much interest in human history so I don't have many memories to draw on. Before I came to this world, I had only a basic overview of your peoples' history."

"I guess our history was a bit violent for you guys," mussed Scott.

Wanda managed to give Scott a weak smile but nodded her head yes. Across the table, Long River gave the same small gesture in agreement. Only Dry Sands on the Plain did not. Around the table eyes turned to the young woman, curious about her apparent knowledge of humanity's past. The attention of everyone made the Soul shrink down in her chair.

"It's alright Dry Sands," said Wanda with an encouraging smile.

The Soul woman looked meekly around at the gathered Humans and forced herself to straighten in her chair. "I've read some of your history books. Not in great detail, but I was interested in certain events in your past."

"Like what?" asked Scott, genuinely curious what the alien Soul Dry Sands on the Plain would find interesting in human history books.

"I…I… was reading several works by different human writers. I didn't understand the context in some of the stories and went to investigate the historical periods," explained Dry Sands. She was beginning to turn very red in the face.

Seemingly unfazed by Dry Sand's discomfort Scott continued to press for details. "Which books?"

Now dropping her head, Dry Sands spoke almost imperceptibly. "Uhh…Gone with the Wind, Wuthering Heights. Umm…Several by Jane Austen." Her voice trailed off to be completely inaudible.

A puzzled expression came over Scott's face. The young man tried to make sense of the books the Soul had listed and her obvious discomfort at his questions. Still confused he turned towards Ian and Wanda with the hopes of understanding what he was missing. Although Wanda's face clearly showed she didn't understand her fellow Soul's unease, Ian's radiated sudden comprehension.

With wonder in his voice, Ian said, "Those are all romance novels, pretty famous ones, in fact." Ian paused as he considered the alien's reasons for reading such books. "You're studying human romance?"

"Really?" asked Wanda now interested as well. Dry Sands look up at Wanda, her face still cast in an embarrassed anxiety. At seeing how distressed Dry Sands was becoming Wanda immediately grew compassionate for her fellow Soul. "Please don't be upset Dry Sands," said Wanda kindly. "No one here is trying to humiliate you. They're just curious." Dry Sands look about the room, her eyes still filled with doubt. Wanda added helpfully, "We can talk later about it in private." This seemed to help relax the skinny brunet and she nodded meekly.

Wanda was still looking thoughtful, and after a moment of consideration she asked, "Perhaps I could borrow some of these books?"

Ian frowned at Wanda. "Why do you want to read those books?"

"You keep saying I should learn more about human history, that it will help me understand Humanity better," replied Wanda matter-of-factually.

Ian snorted. "Not going to learn much about anything from reading Jane Austen."

As more people drifted into the kitchen area to pick up food some stayed to listen to the discussion while others continued out into the hallway beyond. Scott and Ian began to discuss high school, swapping various stories about English teachers and some of the terribly boring book they had to read. Wanda enjoyed watching little Alexis barrel into the room, in search of food while Kate tried energetically to keep the girl in check.

Long Rivers watched all this in a quiet, reserved manner. This group of Humans wasn't much like his people, he reflected. If his people were here now, they would all be softly speaking, in neat, orderly lines as they went about getting food. Not the hectic disorder as Humans vied for food while the young Alexis tried to stuff an entire sandwich into mouth at once. And yet as Long Rivers watched he saw there was a genuine harmony among these people. As chaotic as the meal was, no one would go hungry and there would be little waste. Smiling to himself, Long Rivers decided as difficult as it was in finding a co-existence with Humans, it was worth the effort.

His eyes drifted to the doorway and then Long Rivers froze. Standing in the doorway was Annie Jansky with husband Simon. Upon seeing Healer Long Rivers in the room, Annie's body went stiff and her eyes widened in near panic. At seeing his wife's sudden and growing fear Simon quickly scanned the dining place for the source. His eyes settled on Long Rivers and they tightened ever so slightly in anger. Long Rivers felt a nervous strain rise in his body.

Others in the room started to see the silent exchange between the two Humans and Soul. Conversations quickly died away as Annie continued to stand ramrod stiff, her eyes full of fright. Simon's gaze began to turn from a weary stare to an outright scowl. Long Rivers began to sweat fearfully.

At last Simon broke the silence. "Com'on hon," said Simon as he took Annie's hand, "we'll come back later." He took her hand gently but had to pull on her to get the young woman to move.

There was a long silence after the two left down the hotels outside passageway. The Healer let out a long shaky sigh, his eyes still cast towards the doorway. It was Wanda who first spoke, her voice soft and gentle as she observed to Long Rivers. "You have not talked with Annie yet?"

His voice was oddly strangled as he replied to the question, "I had not wanted to force the issue. I had hoped Annie would seek me out."

"I see," said Wanda with a slight frown. She hesitated but then added reluctantly, "Perhaps you should go after her."

Healer Long Rivers gulped but then nodded at Wanda's informal request. As he stood, Wanda touched the bearded Healer on his arm. "I will go with you, perhaps I can ease any tension," she added helpfully.

"No, thank you, Wanderer," answered Long Rivers after a moment of consideration. "I have put this off for too long."

Several of the Humans blocked his way and Long Rivers could see they glanced over at Scott, looking to see if the man agreed to let him pursue the couple. Scott looked conflicted but then finally gave a small nod in agreement. The people quickly moved out of Long Rivers' path and with quick strides he was out the door.

Both Simon and Annie were not far down the hallway. Annie was leaning against the old stucco wall of the passageway while Simon was trying to calm her. Long Rivers did his best to slowly and calmly approach the couple. But Annie once again saw him and let out a nervous squeak and she hurriedly looked away. Simon was quick to turn around, his eyes narrowing and his expression growing hard at seeing the Healer.

"What do you want!?" growled Simon.

Long Rivers worked hard to keep his body from shaking. He succeeded with his body but not his voice. "P…P..Please may I speak with you…Annie?"

Simon reply was biting cold. "You want to have your little meetings here where you discuss how to share the world you stole from us, fine." The doctor jabbed an accusing finger towards the Soul and continued, "But I told Marc to leave us out of it. To leave my wife in peace."

"I just want to…have an opportunity to speak…" began Long Rivers.

"To what?" snapped Simon, angrily cutting off the Healer. Long Rivers began to retreat, his feet clumsily backpedaling. Frightened by the increasingly angry Simon.

"Simon," whispered Annie, "stop it. I'll talk to Long Rivers."

Simon whirled back around to Annie, his anger momentarily derailed. "You don't have to," he argued. There was a great deal of anguish in his voice.

Annie's eyes now turned from the floor up to the Soul. Her eyes held no anger or fear, just a quiet resignation. She looked back to Simon and squeezed his hand. "It's okay," she began as she turned back to Long Rivers. Taking a deep breath and letting it out she added, "I need to do this."

There was a long stare between Simon and his wife, which he had only gotten back a scarce three months ago. For the better part of four years, Annie had been the host for the Soul Crystal Spires. Only by trading the cure for the plague with the Souls had Simon gotten her back. He looked back down the hallway, everyone else had cleared out. Giving the three of them space to talk in private. Finally, he said, "Alright, go ahead then."

"Just the two of us," said Annie, again in a near whisper as her eyes never left Long Rivers. The Healer shifted uncomfortably under the slim woman's steady gaze. When Simon began to argue, she said simply, "He's a Healer, he can't hurt me."

"I very much disagree with that statement," replied Simon tightly. But Annie just shook her head and in the end Simon relented. Keeping his eyes on both his wife and Long Rivers he drifted down the corridor. "Annie, I'll be nearby, when you…need me."

And then Annie Jansky and Healer Long Rivers were entirely alone. For long seconds they both stared at each other. Letting out another tumultuous sigh, Annie shrugged. "Well, you wanted to talk Riv, what did you want to say?"

At hearing Crystal Spires's old nickname for him, Long Rivers felt his mouth form a smile. He quickly pushed the expression off his face. This wasn't the time for a jovial attitude. At one time Long Rivers had rehearsed what to say to Annie, making sense of his feelings. But now standing here before her, every single word was forgotten. He cleared his throat awkwardly and managed out a few words. "Annie, I wanted to say…I wanted to apologize for what I did to you."

Annie was silent for a few moments and then shook her head. "No," she replied in a weak and trembling voice, "don't just rush over it by saying 'what I did to you.'" Her voice grew firmer, "Say all of it. Out loud."

For the second time, Long Rivers felt his body quiver. Now he took his own steadying breath. He began again, "Annie Jansky, I am sorry I was the one who inserted the Soul Crystal Spires into you. That I'm responsible for your capture and the years you lost."

"Okay," said Annie faintly after another silent pause, "that's better." She closed her eyes and her face took on an expression of concentration. It was for a few seconds when they popped back open. She pushed herself away from the wall and approached Long Rivers.

Annie tapped her head with her hand and said, "You know what's messed up? I've got all these memories of you and her." She stopped in front of Long Rivers. Annie was shorter than him, the top of her head only coming to his chest. But as she stood there glaring up at him, Annie now seemed to tower over the Healer. He retreated from the Human. "So when I look at you I can't help but think – there's my friend Riv."

"I would be glad to be your friend," replied Long Rivers earnestly.

His pronouncement produced a deep scowl from Annie. "I'm not Crystal Spires, got it? I'm not your friend. She's gone."

"I'm sorry," said Long Rivers automatically.

"I know," said Annie with agitated groan. "Everyone is sorry. Wanda's sorry, Dry Sands' sorry, you're sorry. Hell we've even got two Seekers who feel awful about the whole genocide. How many Humans are even left on the planet? And we still have to hide, desperately hoping we aren't found and completely erased."

"Please, Annie," begged Long Rivers, "I'm trying. I really am trying to make it better. I'm doing all in my power to save what remains of your people."

The scowl on Annie's face faded to be replaced by one of curious confusion. "That's what I don't get. Why are you helping us? You were never some great champion for rights of a host race. How many thousands of insertions did you oversee? Did you do yourself? As much as Humans despise the Seekers, the Healers were right there beside them." Annie's eyes closed and she shuddered as she continued, "Inserting your kind into children…disposing of those who weren't suitable…"

"I never did that!" exclaimed Long Rivers. Annie's eyes opened to see the Healer shaking his head fervently. "I never agreed with disposing of anyone. I don't support that philosophy."

"You inserted kids," retorted Annie and then her voice cracked, "…and babies." Tears pooled in her eyes and threatened to tumble down her face.

"I did," whispered Long Rivers. All of a sudden he felt very weak and weary, his body sagged against the wall. "I did the operations and never gave it a second thought. I was sure I was doing the right thing."

"Then why the change of heart?" asked Annie and she wiped away her tears.

"You aren't like the other races. You keep fighting…No matter what you keep fighting. Even against impossible odds your kind keep trying to push forward." Annie's brow came together in confusion, not understanding what the Healer was attempting to say. Long Rivers looked up to the cracked plaster ceiling of the hotel as he tried to find the right words.

"When I first met Marc, Scott, and Kate I made the mistake of bringing along a young Soul couple and their newborn child. They had wanted to see the Humans who had saved them and their child. I only saw this as a moment of joy, parents with their newly inserted baby. I was foolish, your people only saw it as destruction of the infant." Long Rivers paused and saw Annie nod her head in agreement.

"Marc was furious and I feared his wrath. I assumed the worse of him, that he'd strike me down, beat me in his rage." Long Rivers looked down to the ground, his expression hard to read. He continued, his voice growing softer, "But he didn't. He was still so angry, but he pushed his rage aside and continued to try to find a way forward."

Both they drifted off into silence, lost in their own thoughts. Breaking the stillness, Annie said absently, "Finding a way forward."

"I am trying," replied Long Rivers in a weary but determined tone.

The ghost of a smile formed on Annie's lips. "I guess…I can understand that…even appreciate your help."

Long Rivers felt a trace of a smile on his lips. His body felt like he had just run a mile. With an effort, he pushed away from the wall. "Thank you, Annie."

There wasn't much else for the two being to say to each other. Long Rivers realized the two of them would never be friends, but they could at least be civil towards each other. A minor miracle in its own right given their past history. But before Annie left she had one last thing to say.

"Long Rivers," began Annie, "don't take what I'm going to say as me being vindictive or being said out of spite. Think of it as an observation from one species to another."

Perplexed the Healer asked, "What do you mean?"

Annie folded her arms around her and she looked very small and tired. In sad and resigned voice, she said, "What your kind does, all the races you've taken under this assumption you Souls know what best for everyone. It's not going to work forever. On some other planet, somewhere, you're going to try this," and she stuck out her arm and made a sweeping gesture to indicate the entirety of the Souls' invasion and occupation of Earth. "And it's going to fail."

Long Rivers contemplated Annie's warning. "Perhaps you are right. But we are very careful when we move to a new world. We would not easily fall into a trap."

"Doesn't matter," said Annie with a shake of her head. "Call it the law of averages or just some type of cosmic karma. You'll invade and it will go bad. The race, whoever they are, will hit back and I know your kind. You're not fighters, you're not up to a real protracted fight."

Now Annie's eyes were distant, perhaps in sadness or maybe even a little bit of fear as she finally finished. "And it will end in blood and death."

* * *

><p>####<p>

* * *

><p>The midmorning sun shined down brightly on the Healing Center in Banning, California. The squat two-story San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital was neat and tidy, its glass and sandstone were utterly spotless. The word EMERGENCY written in big red letters on stone facade leading to the facilities entrance. Just outside these doors the Seeker patrol vehicle smoothly came to a stop.<p>

Switching the ignition off on their patrol car, Seeker Rush ran a hand through his short bristly hair. Glancing over at his partner, he saw Seeker Madison was reviewing information off her small personal computer.

"Well," he said as he worked on his seatbelt, "that was a bit of a drive. But we're finally here."

"I don't mind," replied Madison, not looking up from her reports on her computer. "It's nice to get out of the city once in a while."

Reaching for the mic to the patrol car's radio Rush paused. With a mild shake of his head, he said, "I'm surprised you noticed, you've had your eyes on your computer the entire drive out here."

Turning back to the radio Rush began speaking into the mic in pleasant and calm voice, "Dispatch, this is Seeker Rush and Madison in Patrol Unit 6. We've reached the Healing Facility in Banning." He made a quick scan of the nearly empty parking lot. "No sign of any activity. Has there been any further communication from the staff?"

There was a moment of static on the radio and then the voice of Seeker Wind Rider came over the speaker. "No. There was only the initial message of a problem, we've heard nothing since then."

Madison and Rush exchanged a glance. It was troubling the lack of communication, but not necessary worrisome. Rush again spoke into the mic, "Understood Dispatch, we'll investigate and maintain contact."

"Excellent. Hopefully this is just a miscommunication," came Wind Rider's mild response.

"I hope so," returned Rush as he sat the mic back into the holster. He worked to release his seat belt as Madison continued to review her computer's screen. He cleared his throat gently to get Madison's attention.

Madison blushed slightly, "Sorry," she said apologetically. "I'm just trying to keep up with the reports coming out of other cities," explained Madison as she worked to unbuckle herself and open her door with just one hand. She continued to scan over information on the small screen with the other. "Some of it is…disturbing."

"I know," said Rush with a nod of his head. There had been far too much troubling news in recent weeks. In effort to lighten the mood he added softly, "But so far none of it has touched the Los Angeles area."

"True," came Madison's response as she put her computer away. "But we must remain vigilant." Both Seekers nodded and pulled out their side arms. This was not something Seekers generally did unless there was confirmed threat. But with the ever-growing list of threats to the Seekers found in other parts of the country, neither Seeker was taking a chance.

Entering the building through the doorway beyond the red-lettered sign the Seekers found themselves in Emergency room lobby. There was no one in sight. A neat row of chairs sat in the waiting room, all of them empty, seemingly waiting to be used. The front desk sat unoccupied and vacant, only an office phone and a computer monitor on it. An oppressive silence filled the area.

"Hello?" called Seeker Madison. No response.

Walking over to the front desk, Seeker Rush examined the office phone. He tentatively picked the receiver up and held it to his ear. He listened for a second and then put it back down firmly. Shaking his head at Madison's inquisitive expression, he said, "No dial tone."

At the end of the room stood a double swing doorway which lead deeper into the hospital. Seeker Madison peered through the glass window in the door. The hallway beyond was lit up brightly by overhead lights, but there no one there. Again both Seekers exchanged trouble expressions, something was clearly wrong. Even if there was no one in need of a healer the front desk would always have been staffed.

"Alight," said Seeker Rush as he examined a small laminated map on one wall by the reception desk, "let's see if anyone is at the nursing station down the hallway." He took one more look around the empty lobby, it was so quiet. "If we don't find anyone we'll call in some backup."

Moving through the doors the entered the emergency wing of the Healing Center. On both sides of the hallway there were small rooms, each with an examination table. All of them empty. Seeker Rush again called out, announcing their arrival and asking if anyone needed help. Silence was his only answer. He looked over to Seeker Madison, she had a hand on her stomach and an unpleasant expression on her face.

"Madison?" asked Rush with worry in his voice. "What's wrong?"

Madison stopped and let out a pent-up sigh. "Does your host body ever…react to a situation when you don't have enough information to judge it dangerous or not? But somehow it has sensed there is a danger?"

Rush's confused expression was the Seeker's only reply. Madison's face grew pensive and she added, "I think it's called intuition."

"I see," replied Rush as he glanced around the empty corridor. Still finding no one he turned back to Madison. "What does your body's intuition tell you?"

"That something is wrong here and we should call for reinforcements now," replied Madison.

"Agreed," said Rush with a firm nod of his head. He wasn't sure about his fellow Seeker's 'intuition' but there was certainly something amiss. Touching the small radio control clipped to his shoulder, he activated his communication with Seekers headquarters in downtown Los Angeles. Wind Rider or one of the other Seekers at the Dispatch Center should have answered, but soft static was the only response.

Madison tried hers as well, with the same results. Seeker Rush was beginning to feel an apprehensive stress build in his stomach. Rush's host body might not be able to sense 'intuition' but it most certainly knew fear and trepidation. He was about to tell Madison they needed to leave right away when a loud call came from the end of the hallway.

"Hello!" came the cheerful voice. Both Seekers spun around in alarm, Rush didn't raise his weapon, but his grip deftly tighten on the gun. Madison, on the other hand, brought her pistol up, her body going into an automatic defensive stance at the figure before them. A tall, well-built man with close-cropped hair stood near the doorway they had just come through. He had a full smile on his face as he stood watching the two Seekers. His happy expression didn't waver at all when he saw both Seekers welded guns.

"Oh my," said the man as he continued smiling at the two. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

Seeker Rush took a breath and took a second to calm his body, but he didn't relax his grip on his weapon. "Who are you?" he asked in a commanding voice.

The man cocked his head with an odd expression on his face. "Well, my name is Pale Light Gleaming. What's yours?"

"Pale Light Gleaming," said Seeker Madison slowly. "I am Seeker Madison and this is Seeker Rush. What is going on here? There was a report of a disturbance early this morning and then this facility went silent."

"Ah, I understand now," replied Pale Light Gleaming with a return of his broad smile. "I was a little concerned when I saw you had weapons." He clapped his hands together and approached the two. As he walked, Rush could see Pale Light Gleaming's bright blue eyes and their silvery reflection in the hallway's lights. Rush felt himself relax and nearby Madison lowered her weapon.

"You see," explained Pale Light Gleaming as he stopped in front of the Seekers, "one of the Healer's medical devices has been malfunctioning. It's producing a lot of EM radiation. I'm afraid I don't understand the machine very well. All the Healers are working to get it fixed."

"Is it dangerous?" asked Madison with a return of concern in her voice.

"Oh, no, not to us. Not us Humans," replied the man with his happy-go-lucky smile as he walked past the two Seekers and down the passageway. He stopped and looked back. "I mean it's not harmful to our Human hosts." Rush and Madison exchanged slightly confused looks and then followed after the odd Soul.

Catching up with the man both Seekers listened as he continued to speak. "But it does play havoc with our phones and computers. Made it very difficult today for the Healers. Must be why your radios didn't work either."

"Are you a Healer?" asked Rush as he eyed Pale Light Gleaming. He wasn't wearing the typical Healer's scrubs, instead a simple black shirt with dark gray pants. It made Pale Light Gleaming almost look like a Seeker. "We were told there should be a Healer Many Leaves working here today."

"That's who I'm taking you to see," explained Pale Light Gleaming, not answering Rush's original question. He looked back at the two Seekers, his sunny smile dropping to a faint frown. "I'm so sorry that you had to come all this way. This has been such a terrible misunderstanding and I'm sure the Healer will be able to explain it all to your satisfaction." He looked down at noted the Seekers still had their weapons out. Giving them an apologetic smile, Pale Light Gleaming said softly, "Would mind putting your guns away? It will bother the Healers if they see you with them."

Madison still looked wary, but Rush put his gun back into its holster. While this Pale Light Gleaming might be a little eccentric, he had been nothing but friendly since they had met him. Seeker Rush felt tension begin to ebb from his body. Seeing her partner's trust, Madison shrugged and also returned her weapon to her holster. Pale Light Gleaming's smile was practically radiant.

"Right this way," he said gesturing to the right handed passageway that branched off from the main. They all walked down this hallway in a peaceful silence. Their walk was short as they quickly came to a small vestibule with several tables and chair. Two men waited for them, one sitting in a chair who wore the scrubs of Healer. His face was darkly tanned and his hair short and thinning. The other stood wearing a white coat with his arms crossed. In his sitting position, the man looked up immediately when the three came walking into the waiting area, but the other paid no attention to the new arrivals. It was difficult to read the standing man's expression as he wore a pair of reflective sunglasses on his face.

"Healer Many Leaves?" asked Rush as he stopped before the man.

The apparent Healer looked between the two Seekers and licked his lips. There was a sheen of perspiration on his face. He looked…frightened. Seeker Rush frowned as he looked at man sitting there anxiously. "Is something wrong?"

Now the man standing spoke. He still paid the Seekers little attention, his focus on the man who sat silently and sweating nervously before the Seekers. "Its alright Bob," he said in a calm and reassuring voice, "nobody expects you to get it right the first time."

"What are you…" began Seeker Madison when the one in the white coat suddenly moved. He lunged towards Madison, his arm twisting out from his body. There was something in his hand, a small gray cylinder. Before either Seeker could react, a puff of black smoke came from the canister. It was directed right at Madison's face.

Rush gasped in alarm as the cloud enveloped Madison's head. She coughed roughly twice and then her eyes rolled back. Her body hit the floor with a soft thud. There was a very short moment when no else moved, a pause in silence. Then there was an explosion of motion. Rush went for his weapon when Pale Light Gleaming hit him from behind. Pain shot up his lower back where he had been hit and Rush staggered from the blow. He twisted to face his attacker, his body automatically going to a protective stance, ready to defend himself.

But 'Pale Light Gleaming' moved expertly. He kicked out with his left foot and caught Rush in the knee. It forced the Seeker off his balance and his attacker pressed in and hit him hard in the stomach. The strike winded Rush and he fell back. Then the man in the white coat gripped him roughly, pulling his arm and forcing him down to the floor. Fear spiked through Seeker Rush as he saw the small cylinder in the man's hand sprayed out a black mist toward his face.

Rush readied himself to end his existence. He would not be taken as a hostage. The shadowy cloud smelled like sulfur as it enter his nose. His tiny true self, the silver being controlling the human body prepared to sever his host body's brain with its many whip-like tentacles. Then the dark gas leached into his body. The Soul felt an odd coldness take hold. Everything, every thought, every movement became…frozen. His attempt to end his life and his host's became the Soul's last thought as the darkness took him.

* * *

><p>"You see," said the man in the white coat to Doctor Bob Richards, who up until this morning had been gone by the name of Healer Many Leaves. "How fast the CURE works," as he gestured to the two unconscious Seekers. Their bodies were still, but their eyelids flickered as their eyes underneath moved in rapid fashion. A side effect of their bodies' central nervous system being rewired and rewritten.<p>

"Yes, I see," replied Doctor Richards with a shaky breath. His eyes never leaving the man and woman on the floor. Finally forcing himself to look away, Richards gazed back to the man in the white coat. He had given no name other than Director Smith. "Well then," said the Doctor as he rose up from his chair, "shall we start with the rest?"

"Right away," answered Smith.

Above the two fallen Seekers, Agent Craig Williams crouched down balanced on the balls of his feet. His broad smile was back on his face. Looking over the latest recruits, he said happily, "I can't wait for you to be part of the team."

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: The part of the story between Annie and Long Rivers was originally going to be part of my second story, but I cut it because I couldn't find a good way to put it in. Hopefully this gives some depth to Long River and why hes motivated to help the humans.<strong>_

_**The Facility is starting to make their move. We now see Paz's new cure at work. We'll soon see just what it can do. Of course Williams is back. I've worked out a pretty good story line for him. And if you thought Adams was a monster, wait till you see what Williams does. **_

_**As always read and review, I love the feed back.**_

_**-Walker.**_


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